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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25326778">Toon Force and Grimm Avengers: Time Wars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14'>PerkyGoth14</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avengers Grimm (2015), Justice League - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:09:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25326778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are going well for the Toon Force as Cherry has changed a lot ever since she moved in with her aunt, Selina Kyle, and is still being trained by Batman. Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin leaves the Underworld to take over Earth, it's up to The Grimm Avengers to stop him, but it will require time travel and Sabrina starts to feel like she doesn't fit in with her friends anymore.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A silver-haired woman was shown to be wearing a suit dress as she brought out a clear clipboard page with her hair in a bun. She sat in a chair with her legs crossed and had her pen ready as she sipped a cup of tea and had her coach cleared off for her upcoming and newest patient who was highly recommended of visiting her, especially due to recent events. This woman was Leslie Thompkins who was a doctor who went to medical school with Thomas Wayne, Bruce's late father, and another man by the name of Matthew Thorne. She was good friends with both and she was one of the few civilians who knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same person.</p><p>"Send in Cherry, please." Leslie soon spoke once she was ready and mentally prepared herself for the next hour of talking.</p><p>Eventually, the door opened and inside came Cherry who lugged in her backpack, wearing dark sunglasses and she soon came in to see the doctor who Selina begged Bruce to let her go see, especially due to the recent insanities and trauma the perky goth was forced to endure and not just fighting with The Justice League.</p><p>"Cherry, good to see you," Leslie greeted. "What's with the sunglasses? You're not hitting Bruce's bottles again, are you?"</p><p>"No, ma'am, it's just very bright in here," Cherry reassured as she sat on the couch across from the older woman. "A lot has changed since I first saw you after Selina walked in on me trying to a tie a rope to a ceiling fan blade."</p><p>"...Hopefully for the better, I assume," Leslie replied. "I see that you've made some new friends since the last time you visited."</p><p>"Yeah..." Cherry nodded. "I have... Atticus you know has been with me since the beginning, even though he was an orphan."</p><p>Atticus was soon shown to be reading a comic book in his bedroom and Patch was beside him with several school awards shown all over his bedroom for "Perfect Attendance", "No Detentions or Demerits", or "Academic Excellence".</p><p>"I think he's gonna grow up to be a detective," Cherry's voice narrated. "He's always been very smart and helpful throughout the years."</p><p>Mo was then shown to be gardening with her older sister, Gloriosa Daisy.</p><p>"Mo, she's sometimes a bit of a ruffian, but she cares about plants and animals," Cherry's voice continued before Angel lunged out and tackled Mo on the ground, licking her and both of the sisters laughed together. "She and Atticus are just crazy about each other. We also had three new exchange students from a place called New Townsville, but I don't know what to make of them yet. They look like something out of a superhero cartoon, to be honest with you... Powerpuff Girls Z."</p><p>"Sounds interesting enough." Leslie's voice chuckled in amusement.</p><p>"Thor..." Cherry's voice continued as the warlock teen was shown to be studying magic, though also reading Star Wars comic books. "He's a big guy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly... Unless that fly was allied with The Legion of Doom or something."</p><p>"Tell me about this Lionel Schwartz boy I've heard quite a bit about." Leslie's voice said before we are shown the office again.</p><p>"Leslie... Don't do this to me..." Cherry chuckled bashfully as she crossed her arms on the couch.</p><p>"Cherry...?" Leslie asked with a smirk on her lips. "Go ahead. This is a safe place."</p><p>Cherry rolled her eyes before shrugging. "Well, he's an interesting case..." she then said.</p><p>Lionel was shown to be playing video games as he tried to stay as busy as possible until he would see Cherry and the others again.</p><p>"He's pretty loyal... Funny... Protective... He can be charming sometimes..." Cherry's voice narrated. "He's unlike anyone I had ever met before. I'm not sure where he even came from sometimes, it's like he just came into my life and refused to go away like some kind of alien invasion," she then continued with an amused laugh. "In a good way though. He's a pretty good addition to our team: The Toon Force."</p><p>"Toon Force?" Leslie asked.</p><p>"That's our little group name away from The Justice League," Cherry explained. "Lionel thought it would be a good name for us when we were looking for Atticus's birth parents."</p><p>"I see," Leslie replied. "Well, I'm glad that you're making friends, and having a reason to refrain from self-harm."</p><p>"Yeah... Some of my scars have healed up..." Cherry nodded. "It'll take a while for more though."</p><p>"Of course," Leslie replied. "The important thing is that you learned to control and stop that... Now, I understand you have another friend?" she then prompted. "A new girl named Sabrina Spellman?"</p><p>"Huh? Oh, yeah, Sabrina..." Cherry nodded. "She's pretty interesting herself, especially in her fascination with horror movies... Plus talking to her cat... Zatanna keeps an eye on her for us."</p><p>"Do you think she's happy in town too?" Leslie asked.</p><p>"Oh, yeah, Sabrina's just fine here." Cherry nodded confidently.</p><p>"Are you certain?" asked Leslie. "I'm sure if she had any problems, she could talk to her friends."</p><p>"Not that I know of," Cherry replied. "She has a movie date later though, so we won't see her at our hang-out for long."</p><p>"Hmm..." Leslie paused thoughtfully as she soon wrote in her clipboard. "You're happy though, right?"</p><p>"For the most part, I am," Cherry admitted. "Even though our lives are kinda crazy, especially with assisting The Justice League."</p><p>"Well, I'm glad to know you're doing better." Leslie told her.</p><p>Cherry nodded.</p><p>"Any nightmares?" Leslie asked.</p><p>"Not recently," Cherry replied. "Sometimes if I eat chocolate ice cream after 9:00, but that's mostly my fault."</p><p>Leslie chuckled, a bit amused from that.</p><p>"Yes, I think things are going to be just fine in this world." Cherry soon said.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, Sabrina was shown to be getting ready for a date she was really excited for and waited all week for, spraying perfume around herself as Salem coughed and sputtered.</p><p>"Hey! Easy with that stuff!" Salem grunted. "You're gonna smell like Mother Nature's garden if you don't turn down the volume!"</p><p>"Lighten up, Salem," Sabrina replied. "So I'm excited and wanna give a great first impression. Nothing wrong with that!"</p><p>Salem coughed a bit and went over to Sabrina's bedroom window and opened it up, gasping and panting for fresh air.</p><p>"This is going to be so much fun," Sabrina smiled as she brought out her crimson dress that was nearly the same shade as fresh blood. "I wonder if we'll get to kiss?"</p><p>"Better him than me." Salem smirked as he dangled from the window as Sabrina got dressed.</p><p>Sabrina then exited the room and headed downstairs.</p><p>Hilda and Zelda were doing their own thing in the meantime. Zelda cleaned up the kitchen while Hilda watched some TV.</p><p>"Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda," Sabrina announced as she came down. "I'm ready."</p><p>"Oh... And don't you just look darling?" Zelda smiled as she came to the teenage girl with her sister. "Jim's going to love it."</p><p>"What movie are you going to see?" Hilda asked.</p><p>"A retro movie called<em> 'The Ring',</em>" Sabrina smiled. "It's gonna be perfect."</p><p>"Well, you two have fun." Hilda replied.</p><p>"Oh, I know we will, this is going to be the best." Sabrina beamed.</p><p>Hilda and Zelda hugged their niece before a car horn honk was heard outside. Sabrina beamed and she soon ran off outside.</p><p>"Oh, Edward, if only you could see your daughter now." Zelda said, a bit tearfully.</p><p>Hilda gave her sister a hug and a pat on the back. "...Well, I'm gonna go call Drell." she got up and left the room a little after that.</p><p>Zelda nodded as she decided to let Hilda do that. Atticus, Mo, Lionel, and Thor sat at the local milkshake place to sit and hang out, though Cherry and Sabrina were missing. Cherry soon came through the door though to meet up with them.</p><p>"Cherry," Atticus smiled. "Did you have a nice talk?"</p><p>"Yeah, it was pretty nice actually," Cherry replied. "Sorry I couldn't meet up with you after school for our little Toon Force meeting."</p><p>"It's all good," Lionel replied. "Better late than never!"</p><p>"I just don't think Brina will be joining us today." Cherry said as she sat with them.</p><p>"That's alright," Thor smiled. "She's got a movie date with that Jim boy anyway."</p><p>"A movie date?" Cherry asked. "Knowing Sabrina, there'll be a lot of ghosts, blood, and nightmare fuel."</p><p>"Yeah, she loves that stuff." Mo agreed as Lionel ordered more chocolate shakes.</p><p>"I hope it's a good date then," Atticus smiled. "She's been looking forward to this date for months, it's just a good thing he didn't end up going with Alexandra Cabot."</p><p>"Pfft! Like Jim would be caught dead with that Skunk Head." Cherry smirked as she crossed her arms.</p><p>"New book?" Atticus asked, seeing a smaller book that said "Once Upon a Time II" on it.</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Cherry nodded. "I'll tell you about it later, but it reminds me of that time with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Red, and Jack and Jill." she then added.</p><p>"Well, we've got time." Lionel replied.</p><p>"It's a very fantastical tale..." Cherry said as she showed her new book. "Henry Mills has really outdone himself this time."</p><p>"Tell us more." Thor smiled.</p><p>"Very well," Cherry replied before reading the synopsis/blurb on the back for them before she would begin. "<em>For Emma Swan, life has been anything, but a happy ending, but when she's reunited with Henry: the son she gave up for adoption 10 years ago, on the night of her 28th birthday, everything changes. The now 10-year-old Henry is in desperate need of Emma's help because he believes from reading a book of fairy tales that she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who sent her away from the Enchanted Forest to be protected from a curse that was enacted by the Evil Queen</em>."</p><p>"Yowza," Lionel remarked. "Sure sounds extremely hectic beyond belief."</p><p>"<em>Emma initially refuses to believe a word of Henry's story, but soon finds that his hometown of Storybrooke, Maine is more than it seems</em>," Cherry then continued. "<em>Because it's in Storybrooke that all of the classic characters we know are frozen in time with no memories of their former selves; except for The Evil Queen, who is Storybrooke's mayor and Henry's adoptive mother: Regina Mills</em>."</p><p>"Whoa." Atticus said.</p><p>"How'd even come up with that?" Mo wondered.</p><p>"I dunno, that's just the power of being an author," Cherry shrugged. "I'd like to be one someday myself."</p><p>"Well, who knows what tomorrow might bring?" Atticus smiled. "Also maybe we can see our fantasy friends again."</p><p>"Yeah, the Avengers Grimm!" Thor beamed before looking thoughtful. "...Or are they The Grimm Avengers?"</p><p>"I like Grimm Avengers better." Cherry replied.</p><p>"Then we go with <em>that</em>!" Lionel replied.</p><p>"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" Atticus smiled.</p><p>"Maybe, maybe not, but cheers to us for helping them defeat Rumplestiltskin." Cherry said as she lifted up her milkshake glass as a toast.</p><p>"CHEERS!" Everyone declared as they lifted their glasses as well.</p><p>The group laughed happily and soon tucked into their milkshakes. The door soon opened as the ringing of a bell was heard to show an older man with shoulder-length, brownish/grayish hair with deep brown eyes who stumbled inside the diner with a cane. He also wore a blackened suit with a matching tie and shoes with a light blue inner shirt. The group soon looked at him like he was a bit strange and unknown.</p><p>"Who's that?" Cherry asked while Atticus shrugged.</p><p>"Don't make eye contact," Thor whispered. "He might be a Dracula."</p><p>"That or a creeper," Lionel replied, taking out a golf club. "He tries anything, I'm gonna whack him."</p><p>"Pardon me, children," The man spoke to them with a light Scottish/Irish accent. "But do you go to the high school around here?"</p><p>"Uh, yes, we do?" Atticus nodded. "Why do you ask?"</p><p>"Oh, I was asked to be a new teacher there," The man then said with a small smile. "You see, I moved here from very far away and I was asked to fill in for a man by the name of Mr. Kane?"</p><p>"Thank goodness," Cherry groaned. "That guy's a total snorefest."</p><p>"Well, who the galifrax are you, buddy?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"I can tell that you're an interesting lad," The man chuckled. "The name is Gold. Mr. Gold to you and don't you forget the '<em>Mister</em>'."</p><p>"Yes, sir." The group nodded.</p><p>"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Gold," Atticus replied. "Welcome to our town."</p><p>"Thanks," Mr. Gold replied. "I think I'm going to be quite happy here."</p><p>"Mm-hmm." Lionel nodded.</p><p>"Um... Well... We hope you like it here," Cherry said softly. "Plus you don't have to worry too much about crime. We have people around who do jobs of saving the day a lot more than just police officers and firefighters."</p><p>"I'll take your word for it," Mr. Gold smiled at all of them. "I hope to have you as my future students. You seem like a very nice and smart bunch of kids."</p><p>"We can be." Mo nodded.</p><p>The others murmured in agreement.</p><p>"I'll just take a small vanilla cup." Mr. Gold told the patron.</p><p>The patron nodded and went to fill out his order.</p><p>"A new teacher... That should make things more interesting until we're needed," Cherry whispered to her friends. "Especially since it's been quiet for The Justice League and Toon Force."</p><p>"Well, relatively speaking," Lionel replied. "It's at least <em>something</em>."</p><p>Thor began scratching Lionel's head, and he let out small purring noises. They soon continued to have their milkshakes as tonight seemed to be a normal, quiet evening.</p><hr/><p>However, Sabrina's movie date seemed to be going... Well... Interesting to say the least.</p><p>Sabrina had a bit of an eerie smile on her face during the movie while most people, including Jim, were screaming their heads off and popcorn went flying everywhere as she was having a great time. "Isn't this great?" she asked out of excitement. "This is so much fun!"</p><p>Jim was screaming and wailing in terror. Sabrina looked at him with a small frown, but continued to watch the movie and enjoyed it. A lot of people left the theater early and some were definitely going to be scarred for life.</p><p>"That blood is so life-like... Almost like my favorite dress..." Sabrina commented.</p><p>Another person covered their mouth as they ran out to puke.</p><p>"Don't go for too long, you'll miss the best part!" Sabrina called.</p><p>"Maybe we should go." Jim gulped as he was white as a sheet.</p><p>"Now?!" Sabrina frowned. "But we just got here."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Sabrina, but... I don't know if I can stay..." Jim shivered as he suddenly got up and ran out of the theater too.</p><p>Sabrina watched him go and began to look a little sad that her date was a bust, but she couldn't imagine why. Jim began to vomit as Sabrina followed him out of the theater, and he stumbled home, looking completely green in the face.</p><p>"I had a great time." Sabrina said to him.</p><p>Jim continued to throw up into the trash outside of the doors as the movie kept going.</p><p>"Yes, guys, I feel like we're all happy around here." Cherry's voiceover said as Sabrina began to look a little glum.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, everyone went to sleep for the night, Sabrina didn't tell Hilda, Zelda, or Salem how her date went as she just went to bed early which concerned them and the teenage witch slept well until she began to dream about being part of the Justice League with her friends, though she had a nightmare that, surprisingly, actually scared her. She saw that Darkseid and King Sombra came back somehow and brought the end of the world to everybody...</p><p>Many heroes and friends they all knew were either killed or enslaved and she even saw Batman, Lady Gothika, and Bat-Mite were brainwashed followers... Conner's version of Superboy was neck snapped which led to his death... John Constantine and Zatanna were separated with one dead and the other alive... Saiyaman had given up hope and surrendered to his evil Uncle Sombra... It was a horrifying and terrifying sight and they called it The Apokalips War. Salem was turning over in his bed when he heard Sabrina's crying in her sleep, which woke him up.</p><p>"Again...?" Salem yawned. "This one sounds like a helluva bad time..." He hopped onto Sabrina's bed and sat nearby... And to get Hilda and Zelda's attention, he yowled as loudly as he could for an entire hour.</p><p>Hilda and Zelda suddenly ran into the room in a panic. Sabrina hugged her pillow as she tossed and turned.</p><p>"Sabrina, honey, please, wake up!" Zelda cried as she tried to shake her niece awake.</p><p>Sabrina took a minute, but she soon woke up and looked all around to find herself safe and sound back home.</p><p>"Sabrina, did your movie night scare you?" Hilda asked.</p><p>"No," Sabrina panted. "You know those scary movies are like kid's stuff to me."</p><p>"She was having a nightmare," Salem replied. "May as well ask about it."</p><p>"Sure, dear," Zelda nodded as she sat on one side of the bed while Hilda sat on the other with Sabrina in the middle. "You can always talk to your favorite aunties."</p><p>"What happened?" Hilda asked with a small smile.</p><p>"Well... I dreamt I was with the others in the League..." Sabrina said emotionally as she hugged her pillow while telling her guardians all about the nightmare she just had. "I-It was just so horrible! I'm not sure what would be worse: dying in the battle or be one of the few survivors just destined to be killed without mercy."</p><p>"Goodness..." Zelda frowned. "That does sound pretty wild."</p><p>"But we happen to know for a fact that that will never happen to you and your friends." Hilda promised.</p><p>"You don't know that!" Sabrina exclaimed. "None of you know that..." she collapsed, sobbing into her pillow.</p><p>Hilda and Zelda frowned, a bit concerned for Sabrina. Salem soon patted Sabrina, trying to comfort her, though it felt impossible.</p><p>"We should call someone." Hilda said to her sister.</p><p>"There's a handsome sounding radio doctor in Seattle~" Zelda had a small smirk. "Maybe we could ask him for help."</p><p>"Quit joking around, Zelda; that's <em>my</em> thing." Hilda retorted.</p><p>"Who's joking?" Zelda smirked hopefully.</p><p>The two soon got up and left the room, having a small argument. Sabrina glanced over as she stayed in the room with Salem as the door closed behind them.</p><p>"They love ya, kiddo, they really do," Salem told Sabrina. "Edward and Diana wouldn't leave you with them if they didn't."</p><p>"I know," Sabrina replied. "But I guess... I just don't feel like this place is right for me."</p><p>"Sabrina, don't think like that," Salem frowned. "You have your friends."</p><p>"Yes, they're nice and it's interesting to be in the Justice League, but... Sometimes I just feel like I'm not right for this world." Sabrina frowned back with a small sigh.</p><p>Salem decided to nuzzle with her as she could use the comfort of a pet cat. "Hey, you think you got problems?" he then asked. "Remember what my life is like?"</p><p>Sabrina turned away, not in the mood to hear about that.</p><p>"...Sorry," Salem then said. "...It'll get better... Somehow."</p><p>"Maybe, but I don't believe that." Sabrina sighed as she laid on her side, gazing out the window.</p><p>Salem frowned as he looked a little sad for Sabrina. Sabrina wiped her eyes as she had a lot on her mind that night. Sure, she had some great friends and they were all doing great things for the town by being a smaller branch off from the Justice League, but still... She couldn't seem to stay happy in this world for so long. She just wished there was some way to escape. She'd learn that there was a way, but not right now. First, her friends would need to find out somehow.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, before we get into all of that, two people were in a secret location, talking with one another. They were known as Alice and The Hatter, which you may remember from certain adventures in a place called Wonderland.</p><p>"Tsk! Tsk! Such poor guests," Alice remarked as she watched the monitors, finding a city in trouble before someone would put a stop to it. "Of course, the squad's away on holiday when the bloody Sea People start destroying my city. Hatter!" she then called to her colleague.</p><p>There was no answer at first.</p><p>"HATTER!" Alice repeated herself firmly.</p><p>"Present!" The top-hatted man responded as he rolled back in a chair behind her.</p><p>"Tell me we recognize our new oceanic oppressors." Alice demanded.</p><p>"Uh..." The Hatter paused as he checked a tablet to show a woman who looked different from where Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman came from. "Princess Magdalena of Atlantis or 'Magda the Mad'."</p><p>"Splendid," Alice replied. "Even if she failed to get rid of Queen Athena of Atlantica."</p><p>"I like her already." The Hatter grinned since the woman was just as mad as he was.</p><p>"And the handsome fellow?" Alice then prompted.</p><p>Hatter soon rolled over with a new image on his tablet to show the young woman. "Charles Charming III, a prince." he then informed.</p><p>"Of course..."</p><p>"Legendary hero if I remember correctly. He was all set to be wed and then he just up and disappeared."</p><p>"No doubt out to see with our little mermaid here," Alice replied in mockery with a roll of her eyes. "Why is it always a lover's quarrel with these fairy tale types?"</p><p>"Well, that is not the whole tale told... Wait 'til you see his bride-to-be and the children they planned on raising together." Hatter replied before rolling back to a scanning computer with special data on it beside a microscope.</p><p>"Curiouser and curiouser..." Alice replied before they shared a smirk together. "I think it's time we break the ice."</p><p>A container was soon shown to reveal a woman who looked just like Snow White from the last Avengers Grimm misadventure.</p><p>"These out-of-towners were supposed to remain home, but we're about to let this one out," Alice said as The Hatter got ready. "The last time she went mucking about, she nearly destroyed the whole of reality with those meddlers that were sent by that Witch's Council leader. Well, desperate times, I suppose..." she then said as she prepared with him.</p><p>The Hatter put a key into the console, and Alice pressed some buttons, turned a knob, and hit the red button. That caused a bunch of whirring noises to be heard as a nearby tube whooshed, before the woman inside of the tube awoke from her sleep, gasping in surprise.</p><p>"Any word of those orphans?" Alice then asked.</p><p>"Nothing, I'm afraid," Hatter replied. "This is better than nothing though."</p><p>"Quite..." Alice nodded. "...Hatter?"</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"If you would be so kind as to prepare a batch of my medicine?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"I fear I'll require it soon."</p><p>"Regular or extra-strength?"</p><p>"Both," Alice replied. "...<em>NOW</em>, Hatter."</p><p>The Hatter fumbled a bit and hurried on his way. Now that she was alone with the woman, Alice strolled towards her.</p><p>"Snow White, I presume?" The curious young woman asked, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. "...I think it's time we had a chat about your fiancé."</p><p>Dramatic music soon filled the air.</p><p>"Your children will be with you soon," Alice smirked. "Then you can have a little family reunion afterwards."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Meanwhile, we are shown a castle where guards were on duty before the doors opened up to show a man coming inside as a certain woman was pacing around.</p><p>"Magda, baby!" The man greeted the woman innocently.</p><p>"Kill him." The woman glared as she held her trident close.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your seahorses there, fish sticks!" The man defended as the guards looked ready to aim to kill as he then smirked to bribe the woman of the sea. "You kill me, how are you gonna find your hubby or get revenge on Queen Athena and her descendants?"</p><p>Magda smirked back. "I have the city surrounded," she replied. "My mermen searching, block-by-block. I'll find him." And she strolled down the stairs.</p><p>"Maybe, but I hate to break it to ya, sister: you're not the only game in town," said the man. "Charming's got options. Sure, you might find him eventually, but someone else <em>might</em> find him first. Like... Snow White?"</p><p>Magda turned back towards her captive and held up her trident, ready to fire. "What <em>about</em> her?"</p><p>"She's in town," replied the man. "And she's not alone."</p><p>"And you know this... How?" Magda asked. "Identify yourself, stranger!"</p><p>The man feigned bowing. "Pardon me, Your Highness. Forgot my P's and Q's," he said. "It's been a while since I've made a proper interaction with r-r-r-real r-r-r-royalty. Name's... Rumplestilskin, and it's my job to know these things."</p><p>Magda paused before she soon raised her hand to make her guards back away from the creep.</p><p>"I don't have my résumé on me, but my last gig was Ruler of the Underworld beside The Queen of Hearts," Rumplestiltskin remarked. "That got boring real fast. Turns out the dead, they just love to talk," he then mocked the souls he helped keep track of. "'It's not my time! Not yet'!" he then laughed mockingly while gagging. "Then I started seeing those BBQ'd people that you were sending down and I thought 'Wow, I have to see her for myself'."</p><p>Magda smirked, taking the compliment as she sat in her throne. "Rumplestiltskin... I've heard of you." she then remarked.</p><p>"Ah... So, you know my work?" Rumplestiltskin smirked back.</p><p>"I heard you killed Snow White and took care of a pair of children's' 'family'... Or that they killed you with some help from new friends." Magda retorted.</p><p>"Yes," said Rumplestiltskin. "<em>Different</em> Rumplestiltskin. Very popular name where I come from."</p><p>Magda shifted in her throne. "The enemy of my enemy..."</p><p>"Sure, yes; let's go with that," replied Rumplestiltskin.</p><p>"Alright," said Magda. "If you're such a businessman, what are you offering, and what will it cost me?"</p><p>"Not only will I bring Prince Charming to you and lay him at your flippered feet," said Rumplestiltskin. "...But I'll convince him to tie the knot, too."</p><p>"Hm." Magda merely shrugged.</p><p>"Well, that's how it works, isn't it?" Rumplestiltskin replied. "<em>He</em> has to marry <em>you</em>?"'</p><p>"Yes," Magda replied. "According to my knowledge of the Enchantment, all I need is for him willingly place the ring on my finger."</p><p>"Well, that's doable," Rumplestiltskin reassured as she flexed her fingertips. "And while I'm at it, maybe I'll even take care of Snow White and those brats. All for the low, low price of your section of Atlantis."</p><p>Magda then suddenly laughed. "I changed my mind. Kill him!" she then ordered her guards.</p><p>The guards rounded on Rumpelstiltskin and pointed their spears.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, now!" The impish man shouted. "Listen here! Hey, if I can spin straw into gold, surely I can get you hitched."</p><p>Magda called off the guards to let the trickster speak.</p><p>"Plus, what do you need Atlantis for, huh?" asked Rumpelstiltskin. "Once you're leader of all the land, you'll be fine once we get that ring on your finger!"</p><p>"Fair point," Magda replied, getting up. "I'll discuss terms once Charles is returned to me."</p><p>Rumplestiltskin nodded obediently.</p><p>"First, I'll need a good show of faith," Magda soon demanded. "How do you expect to 'lay him at my flippered feet', was it?"</p><p>"That's the easy part," Rumplestiltskin grinned eagerly. "You see, these valiant heroic types, the more honorable they are, the easier they are to manipulate," he then said, looking right into her eyes. "And I know a surefire way to get any hero to come running." he then capitalized with a dark snicker.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, it was time for school for our young Toon Force as they walked among the hallways in their own little squadron.</p><p>"Hey, check this out, guys," Cherry pointed out as she noticed something pinned to the bulletin board at the end of the hallway. "The students with the highest scores on our Big Exams coming up gets a trip to a water park and not just any water park: Triton's Bay."</p><p>"Triton's Bay, you say?" Lionel exclaimed. "How positively fortuitous, indeed!"</p><p>"Triton's Bay..." Atticus said before a note was added to newer readers. "Like my uncle I learned about after we met Aquaman." <strong>(as seen in <em>Atticus and the Throne of Atlantis!</em>)</strong></p><p>"Guess we oughta study, study, study so that we can go." Thor said to the others.</p><p>Mr. Gold was soon limping through the hallway as a group of students followed after him with heart-shaped cards as he was either oblivious to or just humored the girls as he was on his way to meet Mr. Kraft since he would start his new job today.</p><p>"...Is it still Valentine's Day?" Thor asked.</p><p>"I don't think so." Mo replied.</p><p>"...Either way, we should study so that we can go," Thor smiled at Atticus. "Think we'll see your relatives?"</p><p>"That'd be nice." Atticus smiled back.</p><p>"Hey, whatever gets us a break from Golden Boy over here," Lionel replied. "Sumthin' about him rubs me the wrong way."</p><p>"I dunno, he just seems mysterious and really interesting," Cherry replied. "Like you could just get lost in whatever story he would tell you and make you wish you could travel with him since he seems to know everything about everyone or anything."</p><p>The others soon gave Cherry a strange look.</p><p>"...Not like I care!" Cherry then scoffed off of their looks. "What? You don't think I'm like one of his drooling fangirl monkeys, do ya? Get real! I just... Psh... Yeah, right!"</p><p>Atticus and Mo looked at each other, and Lionel and Thor both face-palmed in dismay.</p><p>"Oh, no, she really <em>has</em> fallen for him!" Lionel groaned.</p><p>"Denial is the first sign!" Thor added.</p><p>"I have not!" Cherry complained as she flailed her arms.</p><p>"Excuse me?" Mr. Gold's voice called from behind.</p><p>Cherry looked wide-eyed before she slowly turned around to face him as she rubbed her hands together.</p><p>"You're the children from The Malt Shop..." Mr. Gold smiled as he recognized them. "Perhaps you'd like to help me to Mr. Kane's former classroom."</p><p>"Uh, sure," Atticus replied. "We'd be glad to help... Right, guys?"</p><p>"Sure, I guess so..." Lionel replied, annoyed.</p><p>"Don't mind Pietro," Atticus told Mr. Gold. "He's a bit surly, but he means well, honest. Plenty of Canadian hospitality under that gritty Brooklyn attitude."</p><p>"I see..." Mr. Gold replied. "Please then... Show me."</p><p>The Toon Force nodded as they went to lead the way as he took a look around the hallways and the students. Even two girls known as Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge seemed interested in him even though they both had crushes on Archie Andrews.</p><p>"Seems like a bunch of colorful students in this school..." Mr. Gold remarked. "Back home, the children were so playful and making up their own adventures, though then again, they were elementary schoolers."</p><p>"Well, uh, here we are," Mo smiled as she showed the door. "We'll see you for 6th period... Hopefully you don't put us to sleep like Mr. Kane used to." she then added with a weak chuckle in an attempt to joke.</p><p>Mr. Gold lightly chuckled. "How very amusing," he then nodded. "I'll see you then."</p><p>Everyone waved to him as he went inside.</p><p>"He's really weird and creepy." Cherry said to the others.</p><p>"All the reason for <em>you</em> to have a crush on him." Mo remarked.</p><p>"I do not! I do not! I do not!" Cherry whined.</p><p>"Keep on denying," said Mo. "In a few years, you might actually begin to believe it."</p><p>Cherry just rolled her eyes a bit.</p><p>"Hey, guys." Sabrina said softly as she caught up with them.</p><p>"Sabrina, you almost missed the first bell," Thor said. "Are you feeling okay?"</p><p>"...I'm fine." Sabrina said softly.</p><p>Salem nudged her from her backpack.</p><p>"If there's anything bugging you, we can always talk during lunch," Lionel told her. "After all, we're not just a team; we're a family. No secrets between us."</p><p>"Sure..." Sabrina said softly.</p><p>Jim was shown to be walking down the hallway with the boys. Sabrina glanced over and sighed as she stared down at the floor. Eventually, the first class bell rang and it was time for them to get going as Mr. Gold got settled after writing his name on the board, eagerly awaiting to meet his future students. And so, things proceeded as normal throughout the rest of the morning.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, in another part of town, Prince Charming was shown to be hiding before he came up behind one guard and kicked him down as he suddenly fell dramatically on the ground. He had ended up there after Magda sent him through a portal away from The Fairy Tale Realm and into our world. Three more guards soon found him and began to point their spears at him until he grabbed his own and began to fight back. The prince soon began to fight and stab the guards while standing his ground and tossed them around so that they wouldn't get to him. Two guards then came from behind, though he spun around and made them charge against each other, stabbing one before punching the second away. The prince spun his spear and soon took off running once all of the guards were dealt with because of him.</p><hr/><p>Back with Alice and the Hatter, they were looking at many mirror shards with Snow White in their company.</p><p>"Charles... Oh, I thought he was dead..." Snow White spoke in a breathy voice. "He disappeared so long ago. Where was he?"</p><p>"Atlantis as it were." Alice remarked calmly.</p><p>Snow gritted her teeth. "Magda...!" she scowled.</p><p>Alice's left eyebrow seemed to rise. "You know her, then?" she inquired.</p><p>"From before all of this," replied Snow. "But what's she doing here?"</p><p>"Well, you may have saved the city once before," replied Alice. "But you certainly made a proper mess of things in the process." she sighed. "Far as I can tell, when your mirror broke, reality broke with it. What was once a path to a seemingly infinite number of realms is all messed up now. Now there are bits and fragments of this mirror scattered all over the bloody world, <em>my</em> world. And each one is a gateway to a different fairy-tale realm, including yours. Should've known one would've popped up in the middle of the ocean. This one is Neverland. Quite fond of it myself; here, you'd never grow old. It's wonderful for the skin, if you can stomach the pirates."</p><p>Snow nodded as she looked among the mirror shards.</p><p>"And that one," Alice continued, showing a world with an emerald green palace with a yellow brick road. "It's got flying monkeys of all absurdities. And for each one apart from its place, it's me who puts them back. Including Magda. Including you, if I'm to be honest."</p><p>Snow looked very thoughtful over what was going on just now.</p><p>"What does she want and why is she here?" Alice rhetorically asked.</p><p>"What she's always wanted: to rule." Snow replied sharply.</p><p>Alice snorted. "One might think the ocean would suffice for a girl with gills, even if she didn't get King Triton's hand in marriage." she then said.</p><p>"She wants the surface, especially after the son of Queen Atlanna made it up there," Snow replied. "Now she needs Charles to get it, his ring. Whoever he marries rule all the land after I managed to defeat my step-mother, Queen Regina." she then added.</p><p>Alice glanced off to the side. "So literal, you bunch; well then, off we pop to rescue the prince, stomp the evil sea people, and send you packing," she replied. "Forgive the... Rather rushed revival but we're woefully tight on time. So I'll show you where to find Sleeping Beauty and Red."</p><p>And with that, the both of them left.</p><hr/><p>The blonde woman known as Sleeping Beauty crept around before she saw the fallen guards before running up toward them. Then suddenly, one guard from behind suddenly jumped up and latched onto her from behind.</p><p>Sleeping Beauty grunted and elbowed him down to the floor and smirked before she turned around at him and blew her magic at him. "Nighty-night~"</p><p>However, the guard had a mask on his face, so he was unaffected by the sleeping spell and even growled at her. Sleeping Beauty looked panicked until suddenly...</p><p>"Over there!" A boy's voice called out.</p><p>Red shot an arrow at the guard, sending him flying as she stood beside two children: Jack and Jill. "Sloppy and stupid, Princess," she then smirked as she lowered her hood. "Even the kids are getting better at this than you are."</p><p>Sleeping Beauty rolled her eyes. "...Thanks, Red." she remarked.</p><p>"Here," Red said, handing her a sheathed blade. "For when the magic doesn't work."</p><p>S.B. pocketed the blade, then looked around. "Seems like they were looking for something?"</p><p>"Or someone." Red countered.</p><p>"I wonder who got all these guys?" asked Jack.</p><p>"Maybe Looking Glass?" suggested Sleeping Beauty.</p><p>Red smirked. "There's plenty to go around, Sleepy," she remarked as she walked around. "Kinda reminds me of the good old days."</p><p>"Nice to see some familiar faces!" A voice soon called.</p><p>"Princess Snow." Jack and Jill looked delighted to see their mother figure.</p><p>"Looks like you've been keeping busy." Snow said as she soon came toward the twins and hugged them.</p><p>"Snow White? It's been a while." Sleeping Beauty replied.</p><p>"Just been on ice for a little while," Snow remarked as she looked around. "Where are the others?"</p><p>"Well, if you haven't noticed, there's been a lot of heat around here lately." Red replied.</p><p>"Looking Glass has been looking around for people like us and sending us to who knows where," Sleeping Beauty added. "And now there's a whole group of Atlanteans attacking the city, they're nowhere to be found."</p><p>"We've thought about asking our friends from the other world to help us." Jill added, referring to Atticus, Cherry, Lionel, Mo, Sabrina, and Thor.</p><p>"Well, you know what they say about every little bit." Snow replied.</p><p>Jack and Jill smiled at her.</p><p>"And that's why I'm here," Snow continued. "We have a mission."</p><p>"Finally!" Red smiled.</p><p>"Oh, joy." Sleeping Beauty smirked as she crossed her arms.</p><p>"But you're not gonna like it." Snow told the blonde woman.</p><p>"Do I <em>ever</em>?" Sleeping Beauty playfully rolled her eyes.</p><p>"How did you find us?" Jill asked Snow.</p><p>"The mirror... Or what's left of it..." Snow remarked.</p><p>"...But then that means--" Jack began.</p><p>"Oh, you're kidding." Sleeping Beauty scoffed.</p><p>"Looking Glass," Snow soon said. "Let's go ask Alice."</p><p>"Nice." Sleeping Beauty replied before they walked off.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, back in our world, it was time for the newest class of the day.</p><p>"Welcome to your new History course, children; my name is Mr. Gold," The new teacher began as he stood behind his desk, hunched over a bit as the girls seemed to ogle over the sight of him while most boys either didn't pay attention or already fell asleep. "I really hope we get along nicely and this class goes smoothly for each and every one of us and--" he then glared slightly as some kids were asleep and he whacked his cane at the board, startling the students. "I will not tolerate that now." he then warned.</p><p>"Whoa." Atticus whispered.</p><p>"Boy, when this guy gets down to business, he really <em>does</em> get down to business." Mo nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Now... As I was saying..." Mr. Gold continued with a small smile. "We're going to have some fun in this class. Especially with reading aloud in our books which you all will have to do eventually."</p><p>The class groaned a bit.</p><p>"I'd also like a little class helper," Mr. Gold before looking at the class. "Miss Butler?"</p><p>"Hm?" Cherry looked wide-eyed.</p><p>"You seem like an intelligent young lady," Mr. Gold smiled at her. "Perhaps you'd like to help me out?"</p><p>"Uh... S-Sure..." Cherry replied.</p><p>"Ooh! Teacher's pet!" Moose smirked from his desk.</p><p>Many of the other students laughed, only to be silenced very quickly.</p><p>"<strong>SILENCE!</strong>" Mr. Gold barked.</p><p>A silence fell over the classroom as Cherry made her way over to Mr. Gold's desk.</p><p>"You seem to be one of the more mature ones," Mr. Gold said as he faced her. "Can I trust you to help me out?"</p><p>"You can count on me..." Cherry promised with a nod.</p><p>"That's what I like to hear," Mr. Gold smiled warmly as she grabbed her chest, feeling her heart pounding as she tried to remember Lionel was her true love, but she couldn't help form a crush like many of the other girls. "Now... What do you think we should do today?"</p><p>"Oh... I dunno..." Cherry shrugged as she looked at the floor. "Maybe go to the library and do some research on the French Revolution? That was our last assignment before Mr. Kane left."</p><p>"I see..." Mr. Gold nodded. "Then... Off to the library we go!" he then told the other students. "I always had a soft spot for the French myself."</p><p>The other students grumbled to themselves as they got up from their seats and left to go to the library, though Dilton Doiley didn't seem to mind.</p><p>"Well, at least it's not boring." Mo shrugged.</p><p>"Hopefully I can whisk away a computer." Cherry said as she came to her friends.</p><p>"That'd be nice for you," Atticus smiled. "...As long as you stay focused and don't write another story in class again."</p><p>"Hey, don't shun my creativity," Cherry smirked. "I can't help it if I'm awesome."</p><p>"Yeah, that <em>is</em> true." Thor replied.</p><p>"I admit, that was pretty clever of ya." Lionel nodded.</p><p>And so, they went to the library while Sabrina sighed at herself.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Okay, Sabrina, Gold's talking to the librarian, so tell us what's going on with you." Cherry said as she sat behind a computer as she typed, but paid attention to her friends, mostly making it look like they were working on studying.</p><p>"It's just... You guys are my friends and all... You've been the best friends I've ever had... But... I'm not sure if I fit in around this world." Sabrina explained with a sad sigh.</p><p>"You mean like how I felt like I didn't fit in back in the 5th Dimension?" asked Lionel. "Or at least a feeling akin to it."</p><p>Sabrina nodded.</p><p>"Gotta ask, what brought this on, cousin?" asked Thor.</p><p>"I'm not fully sure..." Sabrina said softly. "I had my date night with Jim."</p><p>"Yeah, we know," Cherry nodded. "You've been looking forward to it for so long."</p><p>"...Jim didn't exactly enjoy the movie," Sabrina frowned. "We left early and he even threw up."</p><p>"Yikes." Atticus said.</p><p>Cherry rolled her eyes as that wasn't really helping.</p><p>"And after I went home and went to sleep, I... I had this dream..." Sabrina continued.</p><p>"What happened in the dream?" asked Mo.</p><p>Sabrina looked a bit nervous, but she went into detail about what had happened in the dream. The group looked wide-eyed and scared.</p><p>"...Gosh, Sabrina, that sounds worse than the nightmares I had before we all joined forces." Cherry murmured in surprise.</p><p>"It was too scary, even for me," Sabrina nodded. "What if that happens?"</p><p>"I doubt that'll ever happen," Atticus replied. "We won't let it happen anyway."</p><p>Sabrina gave a small smile at the comfort.</p><p>"It's okay, Sabrina, we're always gonna be together, me especially," Thor smiled back. "Nothing will ever come between us."</p><p>Drell soon came into the school library and saw the Toon Force group and came to them. "There you are," he then said, moving them away from the computer. "I thought you'd be in the classroom."</p><p>"Sorry, sir," Atticus replied. "We have a new teacher and-"</p><p>"Yes, yes, I'm sure whatever it is it's fine, now come on, I think we should go to the gym," Drell said, leading them out of the library. "I have the strangest and nervous feeling that something might be going on outside of this world."</p><p>"What do you mean?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"Well, it might have to do with... Certain places..." Drell replied ominously.</p><p>"Ahem?!" Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow as he stood in front of the larger and taller man. "I beg your pardon, sir, but where are you taking my students?"</p><p>"I gotta tutor them for other classes so they don't fall behind," Drell told him. "Who the hell are you?"</p><p>"Uncle! Language!" Thor cried. "This is our new teacher, Mr. Gold."</p><p>"...Do I know you from somewhere?" Drell asked Gold. "You seem familiar..." </p><p>"I'm afraid I don't know you, sir; I'm just a kind and humble substitute high school history teacher at your service~" Mr. Gold remarked with a bit of a grin, showing a pair of golden teeth in his mouth that audibly gleamed.</p><p>"I see..." Drell replied as he shook chills and led the kids away behind him, leading them out the door to talk in private away from the other students. "Either way, let's move along now. Follow me, kids."</p><hr/><p>The group followed behind Drell as he led them out the door and to the gym.</p><p>"Okay, seriously, what is going on?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"I'm glad you asked," Drell replied before he stepped away and brought back a mirror to show them. "For instance."</p><p>"Hey... I look good..." Thor smirked a bit as he flexed his arms and posed in front of the mirror.</p><p>"It's not for your reflection," Drell rolled his eyes. "Think back... Does this mirror look familiar?"</p><p>"...Well, sure," Cherry shrugged. "Remind me though?"</p><p>"Don't you guys remember the Grimm Avengers when you faced against Rumplestiltskin when he took over the town?" Drell reminded.</p><p>"Ohhhh, yeah." Cherry replied.</p><p>"Mm-hmm." Atticus and Thor added.</p><p>Sabrina and Mo agreed.</p><p>"...Bits and pieces." Lionel replied.</p><p>"Well, it appears they need your help again," Drell said to them. "I sensed something wrong this morning. I was about to tell Sabrina, but she took off to school so quickly that I didn't have a chance."</p><p>"Sorry, Drell," Sabrina said softly. "I was going through some stuff."</p><p>"It's all right," Drell comforted. "But right now, you have to worry about Magda the Mad."</p><p>The group merely blinked at the mention of that name.</p><p>"Atticus, you really need to know this the most," Drell said as he put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "She rules a section of Atlantis."</p><p>"I haven't seen or heard of or seen her when I found out my birth mother was a mermaid." Atticus shrugged.</p><p>"I'm not surprised, she's a bit of a black sheep in Atlantis," Drell replied before he showed a picture of the Sea Witch. "But she was insanely jealous of your Aunt Athena and you're really lucky she hasn't tried to get to you during her reign of terror."</p><p>"Well, talk about unexpected," Lionel remarked. "First this Gold guy shows up, and now we got a pissed-off wannabe ruler."</p><p>"And that's why you're in the gym, it's time to train again and help the Grimm Avengers," Drell told them. "That is, if you're willing."</p><p>"We'll take the mission, Drell," Atticus replied before looking at Sabrina with a small. "Besides, it would make some of us feel appreciated and loved that we helped out and did something right."</p><p>"I love your spirit, now let's go." Drell said.</p><p>"Now?" Cherry asked. "But we're in the middle of-"</p><p>Then suddenly, the fire alarm went off, though there didn't seem to be a fire going on.</p><p>"I didn't organize a fire drill!" Principal Weatherbee said to Mr. Kraft.</p><p>"Neither have I!" Mr. Kraft replied. "The fire alarms must need repairing or something."</p><p>"Aaaaand there's our distraction." Drell replied.</p><p>The kids quickly made a break for it with Drell as they headed outside. The fire alarms kept going for a while.</p><p>"Kraft, we'll have to cancel the final period," Principal Weatherbee suggested. "At least until we get those faulty alarms fixed."</p><p>The students overheard this and soon cheered at that remark.</p><p>"Sad, I was hoping to spend more time with the children." Mr. Gold remarked.</p><p>"I'm sorry this had to happen on your first day with us." Mr. Kraft replied.</p><p>"Not to worry, Mr. Kraft; I understand." Mr. Gold nodded calmly.</p><p>"Honestly, I don't trust that Gold guy," Lionel remarked. "Something about him makes me uneasy..."</p><p>"Want me to bug him?" Drell asked.</p><p>"You're gonna annoy him?" Cherry raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"No, I mean, keep a tracker on him," Drell explained with a light chuckle. "Ya know... Watch over him with my crystal ball."</p><p>"Solid plan, Drell, my man!" Lionel beamed proudly. "Ya know, it's times like this that remind me you can be pretty darn clever when ya put'cher mind to it! Now I see where Thor gets it from!"</p><p>Thor grinned proudly at that.</p><p>"Now..." Drell soon said. "We can call the Justice League for back-up or I can take you to the world now."</p><p>"We'll train in the special room at The Watchtower," Atticus suggested. "We'll hang out with our Justice League mentors and then we'll go. I just hope that'll be enough time."</p><p>"Luckily time passes through differently between Realms, so I'll let you go there before it's time to face a couple of new Fairy Tale Foes," Drell replied. "Alice and The Hatter."</p><p>"Alice?" Cherry asked. "Like from <em>Alice in Wonderland</em>?"</p><p>"That poor girl," Drell rolled his eyes. "You go to <em>one</em> place and it's <em>all</em> anyone ever knows about you."</p><p>"What, she expects to be known for anything else?" asked Lionel. "As far as anybody knows, that's the only notable thing she's done!"</p><p>"I almost feel sorry for her sometimes..." Drell replied. "Come with me to my car."</p><p>The kids soon rode away in Drell's car as he drove them to The Watchtower while the other students went home early that day. Mr. Gold watched the car go before he narrowed his dark eyes sharply as he stayed put.</p><hr/><p>And so, the kids came to the Justice League and decided to go through quick and special training with their respective mentors: Cherry and Lionel with Batman, Mo concentrating on her own power, Atticus with Superman, Thor with Dr. Fate, and Sabrina with Zatanna.</p><p>"All right, just remember to channel your energy and magic carefully," Zatanna warned the teenage witch. "If not, terrible things could happen... Try to fly on your own."</p><p>Sabrina looked weary before she squeezed her eyes shut and grunted as she tried to fly in the air, though nothing seemed to work.</p><p>"...You're not concentrating, Sabrina," Zatanna said to her student. "Is there something wrong?"</p><p>"...I have a lot on my mind." Sabrina sighed.</p><p>"Well, it never hurts to talk about it," Zatanna replied. "Better to get it out now than in the middle of a battle."</p><p>"Yeah..." Sabrina nodded. "I had a nightmare."</p><p>"About the end of the world and a return of Darkseid and Sombra?" Zatanna guessed.</p><p>Sabrina's eyes widened.</p><p>"Special power," Zatanna smirked a bit. "Though you don't have to worry about that, Sabrina. Are you scared about a test in school or something?" she then asked. "Why did you have this nightmare?"</p><p>"I don't know..." Sabrina frowned. "I had a movie date with a boy named Jim... And he left early... Also Hilda and Zelda are nice, but they barely pay attention to me... I just... I don't know... Feel like I'm not meant to be in this world."</p><p>"Well, at some point in our lives, we all get that feeling," Zatanna replied. "But if we feel like we <em>don't</em> belong, at least there's always somewhere where we're able to feel like we genuinely belong."</p><p>"Yeah?" Sabrina asked.</p><p>"Sure, you'll know it eventually," Zatanna smiled. "I promise, it'll get better."</p><p>"I sure hope so." Sabrina said softly.</p><p>Zatanna patted Sabrina on the back and gave her a hug to try and ease her a little bit. Sabrina sighed, appreciating the hug, though still looked a little sad and low on the inside. Salem frowned as he saw that and left the two alone as there was a lot going on for Sabrina right now. Drell decided to sit and wait in the meeting room of The Watchtower and spun around in his seat a bit, trying to keep busy while the kids were busy themselves.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, the training session ended for the day, and the group each came to rest their bodies after the rigorous training regimen. The kids soon came back to see Drell who then smiled at them.</p><p>"I think we're ready to see the Grimm Avengers again, Uncle," Thor smiled. "Are you gonna keep an eye on Mr. Gold for us?"</p><p>"Sure, let's get you guys that magic mirror," Drell smiled back. "Just give me a minute."</p><p>The others nodded, though Sabrina sighed softly.</p><p>"Aw, kid... Don't turn yourself blue," Drell told Sabrina. "Hilda and Zelda really do... Care about you. Really, they do," he then mumbled a bit to himself. "Though they are a bit more friendly and careful in the other universe."</p><p>"Other universe?" asked Sabrina, having overheard. "What other universe?"</p><p>"I dunno what you're talking about." said Drell.</p><p>"You mentioned another universe," said Sabrina. "So tell me."</p><p>"I dunno." Drell shrugged.</p><p>Sabrina reached under his long hair and pinched his ear.</p><p>"YOW!" Drell yelped before glaring. "Why, you-"</p><p>"I just wanna know, that's all," Sabrina said, though she kept a firm pinch. "Please just tell me."</p><p>"Let go... Then I'll talk..." Drell replied and she soon did as she was told and he rubbed his now throbbing ear. "You're Hilda's niece all right."</p><p>Sabrina soon sat patiently at the table to talk with him.</p><p>"Okay, so, this world we live in right now? It's one of many Earths," Drell explained as he looked her in the eyes. "There are many universes, such as one where Atticus and Cherry's parents left them at an orphanage until they were adopted and went on various adventures together, finding new places and meeting new friends, including you in that world... I like to call it The Prime Universe."</p><p>"Okay..." Sabrina nodded as she continued listening.</p><p>"Yeah." Drell said.</p><p>"What about my parents?" Sabrina asked. "Did they die?"</p><p>"No, your parents are around," Drell reassured. "Word got out about your warlock father marrying your mortal mother which is, as you know, highly against The Witch's Council code, so they had to divorce and not only that, they had to send you away to your Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda so they could teach you how to channel your magic."</p><p>"Whoa." Sabrina said softly.</p><p>"But then a certain someone you know from this universe in that universe," Drell continued, shooting a look at Atticus who was doing pull-ups while Cherry rolled her eyes at him. "Decided that your mother should become a witch so that your parents could remarry and they took you with them to a new house and you still visit your aunts as much as possible of course."</p><p>"Gosh, my life sounds better in The Prime Universe than it does in this one..." Sabrina said softly. "I'm sure Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda love me very much, but sometimes, it just feels like I'm invisible to them."</p><p>"Well... We <em>could</em> send you there after we deal with this," said Drell. "If you need to think it over, it's fine."</p><p>"You would do that for me?" Sabrina asked, a bit wide-eyed.</p><p>"Of course I would, we're family," Drell replied with a small smile. "Or at least, I hope to be someday. I hope to ask your aunt a very important question."</p><p>Sabrina paused before nodding at the offer. "Yeah... I'll think about it," she then said. "Thanks, Drell."</p><p>"Hey, I care about ya, I'm not a monster." Drell chuckled as she then suddenly latched onto him to hug him thankfully. He patted her on the back.</p><p>The rest of the group soon met up.</p><p>"All right," Cherry said. "I think we're all good to go."</p><p>"Well, it's about time!" Drell replied as Sabrina let go of him. "Do you know how slow you people take?"</p><p>The others rolled their eyes at his impatience, though he seemed to be just kidding.</p><p>"Just as long as we get our homework done too," Cherry said. "You can't keep taking us out of school like this forever."</p><p>"I have ways..." Drell darted his eyes around before he soon brought out his magic mirror and it began to glow once it was in position. "All right, go see the Grimm Avengers or whatever you wanna call the Fairy Tale branch of The Justice League."</p><p>The group nodded and headed inside.</p><p>"Are you gonna go with them?" Salem asked Drell before he would go in next.</p><p>"I dunno..." Drell replied. "Someone should keep Hilda and Zelda company while the kids face against the dark forces again... Plus I should keep an eye on that Mr. Gold character."</p><p>Salem shrugged before he soon went into the mirror after the kids. Drell then magicked the mirror away for now and soon left The Watchtower to fulfill his promise.</p><hr/><p>And so, the adventure began in earnest.</p><p>"So this is the place, huh?" asked Thor.</p><p>"I guess so," Atticus replied. "But where are-"</p><p>"BANZAI!" Two young voices called out and the group got tackled to the floor.</p><p>Jack and Jill laughed as they ended up on top of the Toon Force.</p><p>"Jack! Jill! It's been too long," Thor smiled at the younger ones. "Looks like we showed up just in time."</p><p>"Yeah, and even Queen Snow White's gonna be happy to see you." Jill smiled back.</p><p>"Well, at least the circumstances are better," replied Lionel. "For one, we're not having our life forces leeched."</p><p>"Hopefully you can hang out with us," Jack smiled at Lionel. "Let's go show you the princesses so we can meet up and face against more evil."</p><p>"Right." The group nodded as they soon walked off together.</p><p>Snow, Red, and Sleeping Beauty waited in another room until Jack and Jill would come and see them with their friends from the other world before looking over and smiled at the kids.</p><p>"Let's get this party started!" Jack beamed and chuckled as he came to the princesses.</p><p>"Thank goodness," Red said. "Good to see you all again after that time with Rumplestiltskin."</p><p>"Likewise," Atticus replied. "We'll be glad to do whatever we can to help."</p><p>"Let's go then," Jill smiled. "Princess Snow... Red... Princess Sleeping Beauty."</p><p>"Is that seriously your name?" Cherry asked the blonde woman.</p><p>"I beg your pardon?" Sleeping Beauty replied.</p><p>"Your parents seriously did not name you 'Sleeping Beauty', did they?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Oh... No, no, that's just a nickname everyone gave me after I woke up from the evil fairy's curse," Sleeping Beauty replied. "If you want, you can call me Rosamund or Rosa."</p><p>"Oh, neat!" Lionel replied. "You learn something new every day, I guess."</p><p>"I'm just gonna call you Rosa then." Cherry decided with a nod.</p><p>The blonde woman shrugged as she then filed her nails.</p><hr/><p>They soon met at a building and watched something like a TV screen to look out into the world.</p><p>"So, let me get this straight; this whole entire time you've been here, literally chilling, and just, you slept through an entire enemy invasion!" Rosa said to Snow.</p><p>"It wasn't exactly my choice," Snow retorted before calling out sharply. "If someone would have defrosted me sooner!"</p><p>"Oh, please!" Alice scoffed as she turned in her chair. "Every time you royal types go stomping around, it's us, little people, you step all over."</p><p>"Hey hey hey, knock it off, you three!" Lionel advised. "Fighting amongst each other won't help our situation."</p><p>"He's right, that's enough," Snow agreed. "Like it or not, it's up to us to stop Magda. She only wants one thing."</p><p>"Revenge?" Thor guessed.</p><p>"My prince," Snow clarified. "And she won't stop until she gets him."</p><p>"Okay then," Mo glared. "Let's find your prince."</p><p>"Charles." Snow nodded.</p><p>"Charles? Charming?" Rosa suddenly asked. "<em>Prince</em> Charming? Didn't you have a little-"</p><p>"That doesn't matter right now," Snow told her. "What matters is if Magda marries Charles, she could put the whole city underwater if she wants."</p><p>"And me without my flippers!" Lionel remarked.</p><p>"Who would put that much power in a wedding ring?" Red nearly scoffed.</p><p>"Charles is noble... Valiant..." Snow began to say with a dreamy look on her face. "Every bit a hero."</p><p>"He always let us borrow your well to fetch pails of water in before the wars started so we didn't have to go up the hill all the time." Jack smiled in memory.</p><p>"He loved you two as much as I do," Snow nodded. "He never wanted to rule, that's what the people wanted, and they gave him that power. Power all over the land in the form of a ring and he wanted to share it with me."</p><p>"So it's not just his crown and the wedding ring the lucky bride gets that just allows his queen to become powerful..." Sabrina remarked.</p><p>"Exactly." Snow nodded.</p><p>"Well, that's definitely <em>something</em>." Lionel remarked.</p><p>"'Fairest in all the land'." Red memorized.</p><p>"Yeah, I get it!" Rosa nodded sharply before grunting and sighing.</p><p>"No need to be jealous, Sleeping Beauty." Cherry smirked.</p><p>"I am not jealous!" Rosa glared as she groaned. "All right! All right! Let's all go back and get Snow's man!"</p><p>"All right, so how do we find him?" Jill asked.</p><p>An explosion was then seen and heard on the Looking Glass screen.</p><p>"I think that might be our answer." Cherry remarked.</p><p>"That's the alley by the church." Jack told the others.</p><p>"Then we must get moving!" Thor exclaimed. "No time to lose!"</p><p>And so, the Toon Force and Grimm Avengers went straight to action.</p><hr/><p>Magda and her men were watching the chaos unfold as she grinned. "Shall I continue?"</p><p>"Oh, I think that will do just fine," Rumplestiltskin smirked. "If I were the hero type, I'd come running."</p><p>"So what next then?" Magda asked him. "Kill hostages? Destroy cities?"</p><p>"Threaten!" Rumplestiltskin clarified. "Threaten to kill hostages. Threaten to destroy cities. If you kill anyone, you have no leverage."</p><p>"Hmm... I see..." Magda then nodded. "Even if one little mermaid got away from me trying to kill her. Maybe just one then so the prince knows I greatly mean it."</p><p>"MAGDA!" declared a man as he stepped forth.</p><p>"Charles," Magda smiled. "You made it!"</p><p>"The wedding's off, Magda," Charles said as he put on a necklace. "You oughta know, there are plenty of fish in the sea."</p><p>"Toldja." said Rumpelstiltskin.</p><p>"You've done enough damage!" Charles glared at the sea woman. "I won't let you harm anyone else! Not on my account!"</p><p>"Then get down on one knee and propose to me!" Magda retorted.</p><p>"Maybe after a few more dates first." Charles smirked.</p><p>"Bring him to me!" Magda glared as she commanded her guards.</p><p>The guards soon swarmed in on him, though he just stood bravely and not concerned in the slightest.</p><hr/><p>Charles then shoved one guard and took his spear before clashing it with another guard who went to use his sword against him and stabbed, just as the Toon Force and the Grimm Avengers arrived at the scene.</p><p>"I guess we're a little late?" Mo commented.</p><p>"Sure looks that way," Atticus replied.</p><p>Magda fumed with anger. "No... It can't be! S-"</p><p>"Snowy!" Charles exclaimed.</p><p>"Charles?" beamed Snow.</p><p>"This guy's gonna get himself killed." said Red.</p><p>"Or worse, <em>married</em>." replied Rosa.</p><p>The two of them ran towards each other and gazed into each other's eyes. Jack and Jill came from around Snow's sides as the world seemed more colorful and bright once they were in each other's embrace.</p><p>The guards soon went running as Magda began to look very infuriated.</p><p>"<strong>GET AWAY FROM HIM!"</strong> Magda barked as she had glowing red eyes.</p><p>"Whoa." Atticus said.</p><p>Magda soon shot her trident and shot Snow and Charles away from each other, sending Charles flying and he hit a turned over police car and ended up landing on the ground. Jack and Jill looked scared, so they took off and went to go after their father figure.</p><p>Rumplestiltskin was shown to be behind the fence of where Charles had landed and soon made something with a smirk and he then approached the fallen prince. "Hiya, Chuckie~" he then smirked before blowing the magical substance in his face.</p><p>Charles groaned and suddenly passed out so that Rumplestiltskin could take some of his hair.</p><p>"C'mon, Chuckie," Rumplestiltskin grinned at the prince. "We're going through the Looking Glass."</p><p>"Hey!" Jack and Jill cried out as they arrived. "Leave him alone!"</p><p>"Ah... I was never really fond of children... Especially you two..." Rumplestiltskin grinned as he held out his hand and shot some dark magic at them, making them fall to the ground and pass out as he dragged the prince by his ankles. "I should've known you'd risk your lives to save the prince... Just as your own mother died trying to save you."</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Back with the others...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"All right, you wanna dance? Let's dance!" Cherry glared at Magda. "Let's filet the bitch!"</p><p>Snow put her hands on the ground, creating a massive wall of ice between them and Magda. "Let's go!" she told the others. "Wait... Where have you gone now, my Charming?"</p><p>"Again?" asked Red.</p><p>"Commitment issues," replied Rosa.</p><p>"And where are the kids?" asked Lionel. "Not including us!"</p><p>"I guess they ran off." Rosa shrugged.</p><p>"They wouldn't just flake off like that." Snow defended.</p><p>"Yeah, well, maybe that's our cue too." Rosa suggested as she pointed at the ice wall as the guards tried to break through it.</p><p>"Oh, they couldn't have gone that far," Snow advised. "If there's anywhere I know you're off fighting some battle."</p><p>"Snow, no offense, but I think we should get going before they break down that wall." Cherry suggested.</p><p>"Can we? Can we...?" Rosa added urgently.</p><p>The wall had many cracks and it looked close to breaking.</p><p>"Ugh! Fall back!" Snow soon decided before they ran off.</p><p>The group soon ran off to go back and see Alice and The Hatter.</p><p>"Oh, children, please be okay." Snow whispered to herself.</p><p>"You really care about them like they were your own kids." Thor commented.</p><p>"I really do," Snow nodded. "I've known them since before Queen Regina, my step-mother, was taken care of."</p><p>"Ooooookay," Lionel replied. "Glad to know you care about them, but let's keep on moving so we don't lose track!"</p><p>"Of course I do." Snow reassured.</p><p>The group then made it back over to Alice and The Hatter.</p><hr/><p>"Was it a nice date?" Alice asked as she entered the room. "Shame he doesn't seem to have come up!"</p><p>"Yeah, well, take it easy, Bow-Head, Magda didn't have him either." Cherry retorted.</p><p>"Bow-Head?" Atticus asked, unimpressed.</p><p>"Ah, shuddap." Cherry rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Not yet," Alice narrowed her eyes. "What happened and where are those orphans?"</p><p>"We lost them, okay?" Cherry replied. "I didn't exactly sign up to be apart of The Fairy Tale Police Department."</p><p>"They wandered off on their own," replied Lionel. "We were pretty busy with <em>that</em> whole other situation."</p><p>"Wait a minute. What's that?" Alice asked once she saw Hatter looking at a monitor. "Where is this?!"</p><p>"That's here..." Snow said, feeling confused.</p><p>The Hatter simply nodded as Charles was shown on the monitor as he picked some guy up over his shoulder and walked into a pair of double doors.</p><p>Charles grinned as he soon came into the room behind them. "Hello, beautifuls~" he greeted as he shoved the guy onto the couch and approached Rosa. "My darling! It has been such a long time."</p><p>Snow glanced at him while Rosa felt confused.</p><p>"Snowy!" Charles then greeted the ebony-haired woman. "Yes, of course!"</p><p>"Am I the only one smelling the steaming pile of vomit trickery going on?" Cherry glared, feeling suspicious of the man's behavior.</p><p>"Yeah!" Lionel declared, reaching into his belt and throwing a pair of Batarangs that exploded into purple goop, gluing him to the wall. "I got 'im!"</p><p>"...Well, that's new," Red commented before smirking. "I could've used that during the war."</p><p>"Snow, tell this ruffian to let me go!" Charles cried out.</p><p>"Oh, I will... After you answer this... What happened out there?" Snow asked as even she felt suspicious. "Where are Jack and Jill?"</p><p>"Ah, yes, well... During the tussle, I saw this creepy fellow trying to sneak away from the scrap." Charles explained, trying to sound innocent. "Now, if you'll let me go, I can show you some more."</p><p>"I don't buy it!" Thor remarked. "I say we get a hose and spray 'im in the face!"</p><p>"Why don't you believe me?" Charles asked.</p><p>"Is this guy for real?" Rosa scoffed in disgust and disbelief.</p><p>"Where are the children?" Snow asked Charles.</p><p>"You don't have to worry about them, Snowy, you can trust me~" Charles replied.</p><p>"We got rid of him the last time, but I suspect that Rumple Shitstain had something to do with this." Cherry glowered.</p><p>"Why should we trust you?" Atticus asked Charles.</p><p>"Because I happen to have been playing around with an idea, but I can't tell you if I'm stuck here." Charles grinned.</p><p>Snow glared before looking at Lionel. "Let him go." she then told him.</p><p>Lionel sighed. "...Oh, fine." he relented, snapping his fingers and undoing the goop binds.</p><p>Charles then fell to the floor on his knees and stood up with an innocent smile.</p><p>"Make it quit, but I got my eye on you, Prince Charmless." Cherry glared.</p><p>"Of course," Charles said as he brought them to the next room as he typed on a couple of computers. "I've been playing around with an idea and I figured I'd use this little doohickey here to send him back to where he came from."</p><p>Snow and the Toon Force soon walked off together to see what he was talking about, even if they didn't exactly trust him.</p><p>"It's agreed then," Mo told the others. "We keep our eyes on phony-baloney here?"</p><p>"Yep!" The others replied.</p><p>Charles soon went to where he wanted to go while the others just glared at him. The others surrounded the fallen man who was Rumplestiltskin as he looked over at them.</p><p>"Take the gag out." Red said.</p><p>"I'd rather not." Alice glared.</p><p>An alarm soon sounded which briefly distracted them.</p><p>"I don't know what you're planning, but I'm warning you, I'll not have it!" Alice glared as she removed the mouth gag.</p><p>"Yeah, you tremendous trickster!" Cherry glared.</p><p>The others gave her a look.</p><p>"I'm trying to work on my alliteration with Batman." Cherry said to them with a shrug.</p><p>"I didn't know he did alliteration in this universe," Lionel replied. "I thought this was the grim-and-gritty, ultra-serious Batman."</p><p>"He thought it would be a good gimmick for me," Cherry shrugged. "We're trying to look for something for me to do while I accompany him for whatever reason."</p><p>"Oh... Well, okay," Atticus replied. "Sounds very... Whimsical. That'll catch plenty of people off-guard, so that's a plus."</p><p>"Nyeheh..." Cherry smirked.</p><p>"I don't know who any of you people are." Rumple soon said.</p><p>"LIES!" Atticus glared.</p><p>"That man is an impostor." Rumple continued, referring to Charles.</p><p>"Yeah, we kinda figured that out from his lame acting." Sabrina commented.</p><p>"I knew it!" Lionel smirked. "But if you weren't disguised as him, then who is he?"</p><p>"That would be telling, would it?" Rumple replied.</p><p>"...Shuddap." Cherry glared.</p><p>Snow was soon faced with her own Rumple and pinned him against the wall. "I thought I killed you!" she then snapped at him.</p><p>"Different... Rumple... Stiltskin..." The second Rumple grunted and groaned, almost getting choked, but he managed to push a few buttons beside him.</p><p>The alarm soon went off as things got very weird and confusing.</p><p>"Oh, God! The gateway!" Alice panicked as the first Rumple suddenly turned into Charles.</p><p>"Lady, untie me!" Charles cried out.</p><p>"What is even happening right now?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Some kind of illusion, maybe." Atticus guessed.</p><p>"I <em>hate</em> when that happens!" LJ groaned. "It's so confusing!"</p><p>Alice soon typed on the computer and got to work once she moved The Hatter out of his seat. Then suddenly, a new form of magic began to appear in the room.</p><p>"Sleeping Beauty! Red!" Atticus panicked as the two women were sucked in through the magic. "Thor, can we counter that magic?"</p><p>"I-I'm not sure how to!" Thor frowned. "We should probably ask Uncle for help about that if it isn't too late!"</p><p>Rumple then grinned as he pushed Snow off of him so that she could be next and went to reach for the Toon Force next.</p><p>"Step off, you grease bucket!" Lionel remarked. "We gotta get outta here!"</p><p>Rumple grinned and tried to lunge out at them. The Toon Force soon jumped out of the way together, making him suddenly hit the wall.</p><p>"Snowy, the ring!" Charles called out as he soon brought out his necklace and tossed it out at her.</p><p>Snow soon reached out to catch it before she would shoot into the portal with Rosa and Red, though Rumple suddenly caught it before anything else could happen and fell to the floor with it after the portal disappeared within the mirror shards.</p><p>"Noooo!" Charles cried before he suddenly got knocked out by Magda's trident as she walked into the room with her guards.</p><p>Magda then smirked darkly at that before looking at the Toon Force, but more specifically Atticus.</p><p>"Everyone grab hands!" Thor told the others.</p><p>The group each grabbed hands with one another.</p><p>"Get them." Magda told her guards.</p><p>"'There's no need to fear, Take us away from this realm, Back to our own through the magic mirror'." Thor soon recited.</p><p>And before the guards could tackle and pounce on top of the Toon Force, they were teleported away, making the guards fall and land on top of each other.</p><hr/><p>"Dammit!" Magda complained.</p><p>Rumple soon grinned as he was shown to still be there.</p><p>"But you, I'm impressed with." Magda smirked at him.</p><p>"Hmm... I knew you would be." Rumple nodded boastfully before tossing her the necklace and she caught it easily.</p><p>"You've managed to capture Charles, those orphans, retrieve my ring, and rid me of Snow White," Magda smiled darkly. "Where did you send them?"</p><p>"Where? When? Who cares?" Rumple shrugged with a smirk. "Let's just say I sent them back to 'Once Upon a Time'. (roll credits! *ding*) So save the date, sweetheart. The wedding's back on. So, what do you say?" he then grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Do I get the gig?"</p><p>"He still needs to propose." Magda reminded sharply.</p><p>"He'll come around." Rumple reassured.</p><p>"You did remove Snow White... Like you promised," Magda said as she made her guards disperse as she approached the impish man. "Just in case, especially when Queen Athena's land nephew returns, take a dozen mermen into the Gateway," she then faced her guards. "Orders: seek and destroy. Have it disabled afterwards," she then glanced back at Rumple. "I don't want them coming back," she then looked back again at her guards. "From now on, no one gets through this gateway, unless it's under <em>my</em> orders! NOW GO!"</p><p>The guards soon marched off before being stopped again.</p><p>"Your sacrifice will be celebrated." Magda told them before letting them proceed.</p><p>The guards then kept on going after that.</p><p>"You are three for three, my friend," Magda then told Rumple. "Keep it up, you'll have Atlantis yet."</p><p>Rumple grinned at that before they both looked at the fallen prince.</p><p>"Pick him up and put him in something nice." Magda then commanded.</p><p>The guards then picked up and went to dispose of Charles as Magda scanned the area, unaware that Alice was still around as she hid behind her couch.</p><p>"And kill anyone else inside!" Magda soon concluded.</p><p>Rumple soon followed after and spotted Alice with a wink and a smirk, but didn't give away her position, though once he was gone, she got out and went back onto her computer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Meanwhile, in the Spellman attic, the magic mirror glowed and the Toon Force were dumped outside after the glow and ended up on the attic floor together.</p><p>"Talk about your bumpy landings..." Mo remarked as she got to her feet.</p><p>"Looks like we're in a right pickle here, that's for sure." Lionel added.</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Thor frowned. "Especially that insanity with Prince Charles and Rumplestiltskin."</p><p>"That was just mega weird," Atticus said. "We can't stay here too long though. We have to help the princesses... Wherever they ended up."</p><p>"Or whenever..." Thor advised. "Maybe they went back to where they used to live before they had their happy endings."</p><p>"We'll have to worry about that later and come see them again as soon as possible," Cherry said as she pointed to the night sky outside the window. "It's really late. I'd like to think this is more important than our education, but while we're here, we might as well keep an eye on Mr. Gold."</p><p>"Yeah, your teacher boyfriend." Mo replied.</p><p>"He is not!" Cherry glared as she turned bright pink in the face. "I have Lionel for that sort of thing!"</p><p>"Right, then you're just getting all pink-faced for no reason." Atticus replied.</p><p>Cherry crossed her arms with a grumble.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, the kids came downstairs and it appeared that Hilda and Zelda were already asleep.</p><p>"I guess we should go to bed and try to help the princesses tomorrow," Sabrina said to her friends. "Hopefully the time difference doesn't ruin anything while we also keep an eye on Mr. Gold."</p><p>"Yeah," Lionel replied. "...I think I'm gonna go clear my head first."</p><p>The group soon came together in Sabrina's bedroom and had an unscheduled sleepover once they all got in their pajamas and got comfortable. Cherry was the last one to brush her teeth and was on her way to the room before she decided to see Lionel real quick. Said youngster was busy looking out the window and gazing at an empty page in his sketchbook.</p><p>"Hey, uh, you okay?" Cherry asked Lionel as she came up to him.</p><p>"...Sure, why wouldn't I be?" asked Lionel with a half-hearted smile.</p><p>"You seem concerned about something," Cherry said. "Are you worried about Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Red?" she then asked as that was a pretty big idea she had after what they just saw.</p><p>"I guess," Lionel replied. "...But that's not exactly concern #1 on my list."</p><p>"...Well, come on, tell me," Cherry requested lightly. "I promise I won't get mad."</p><p>Lionel sighed. "Never thought I could ever get jealous about someone, but then that Gold guy shows up, and... Well, here we are," he replied. "And I know you say you don't feel anything for him, but it's as plain as the nose on your face. If you're getting all blushy over that guy, with his accent and his roguish good looks, then... What am I even good for? A consolation prize is what."</p><p>"Hey, now!" Cherry called sharply. "I will admit that he's a very handsome, interesting, man who seems to know a lot about everything he's talking about and makes you wanna go with him on a new adventure--" she then listed, getting sidetracked a bit.</p><p>Lionel gave her a sharp look at that reply.</p><p>"Regardless!" Cherry then quickly added. "It's just a harmless little crush... He can't replace what I feel for you, especially what we had been through after you made it out of your home dimension... Even if you were a pain at first cuz I didn't know what to think of you yet."</p><p>"And you hated me for no reason, even though I did nothing whatsoever to antagonize you," Lionel replied. "I was beginning to have second thoughts about the whole thing, to be fair."</p><p>"I was just really annoyed, I hardly had any sleep, and I had a lot going on at the time, so I didn't know how to react," Cherry said to him. "I express myself differently than most people. Sometimes I don't know what the proper response is while Atticus is just Mr. Gary Sunshine Nice Guy to everybody."</p><p>"I guess I can understand that," Lionel replied. "I'm sorry for being a pain in your ass."</p><p>"It's fine," Cherry said softly. "We have a lot going on for us, but it's usually best to talk things through like this. I know I feel better after I talk with Bruce and Aunt Selina about something going on in my life."</p><p>"Sound advice," Lionel replied. "I ought to try that sometime."</p><p>"It might help," Cherry said before offering him a glass of water. "Next to this."</p><p>Lionel took it and drank it down. "Thanks, I needed that." he replied.</p><p>"I'm sure you did," Cherry nodded at him. "Just remember to try to get some sleep. I'm trying really hard to control this teacher crush thing myself, I'm not sure why I even do."</p><p>"I'll do my best," replied Lionel as he climbed into his sleeping bag. "And hopefully we can deal with this situation somehow."</p><p>"Good night then." Cherry nodded as she went to get some sleep.</p><p>"Night, Cherry." Lionel replied.</p><p>And at that, the Toon Force went to get some sleep before they would meet up with the Grimm Avengers again to help them against Magda the Mad and Rumplestiltskin. They just hoped they wouldn't be too late or run into trouble on the way to distract them from their current mission, especially with a new teacher in school. Eventually, the night gave way to another morning, and the group proceeded to get themselves ready.</p><hr/><p>Drell was on his way to the house and smiled as he had a tiny black box and opened it up to show a glittering violet diamond on it before he closed the box and soon decided to ring the linen closet door's doorbell. However, the Toon Force was in the Spellman family dining room, eating some waffles as Hilda and Zelda appeared to be out before the kids had woken up.</p><p>"Oh, Salem, these are the best waffles I ever had!" Cherry said. "Who knew a cat was such a good cook?"</p><p>"Well, I was quite the chef before I decided that I wanted to be a world-dominating dictator instead of a lawyer like my mother wanted," Salem replied, sitting on a stool with a chef's hat and an apron. "Glad you like it so much though."</p><p>The doorbell then rang again.</p><p>"Ooh... A visitor from The Other Realm." Salem remarked.</p><p>"Wonder who it could be?" asked Mo. "...As if we didn't already know."</p><p>The door soon opened as Drell burst out, looking to be in quite a good mood that morning. "Hilda, my love, it's come to repent your feelings for me!" he then announced.</p><p>The kids glanced over before he soon came down the stairs.</p><p>"My cherry blossom, my honey pie, my sock monkey, will you marry me?" Drell asked before he came into the dining room as he popped open the tiny box.</p><p>"I'm flattered, but I don't think you're my type." Salem smirked.</p><p>"Huh?" Drell blinked as he looked around. "Where's Hilda?"</p><p>"I think she and Aunt Zelda already went to work," Sabrina replied. "You're welcome to have some waffles with us though."</p><p>"Aw... Okay." Drell replied as he sat at the table, pouting a little.</p><p>"So, uh, you were gonna ask someone to marry you?" Mo asked the warlock.</p><p>"I figure I'd try to get my second chance," Drell said as he tapped his knuckles together nervously. "I even bought a violet diamond for Hilda since Diamond's her birthstone and the violet color would match her eyes."</p><p>"It's very beautiful, Drell," Cherry had to admit. "I'm sure that she will love it."</p><p>"I hope so," Drell replied. "This mission you kids are having with the Grimm Avengers just reminds me of the parties we would visit in The Enchanted Forest," he then sighed nostalgically. "Feeling like a King and a Queen as we danced beside the people there... Hearing stories from Robin Hood against The Sheriff of Nottingham... Swimming beside the mermaids, especially the littlest one."</p><p>"You mean like my mother's side of the family?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"Ah, yes," Drell then said. "The redheaded mermaid we usually saw reminded me a lot of her. Yes, The Fairy Tale Realm was always so peaceful and enchanting, aside from the bad guys like The Evil Queen, Gothel, or Rumplestiltskin."</p><p>"There's always a viper in the garden, so to speak." Lionel remarked.</p><p>"Yes, I suppose so," Drell replied. "It's all worth it though. Sabrina, have you thought about my offer?"</p><p>"I'm still thinking about it, sir," Sabrina said. "I hope that's okay."</p><p>"Of course... Take your time..." Drell said. "I should also warn you of those fairy tale people who possess dark magic."</p><p>"...Why?" Atticus asked.</p><p>Drell soon snapped his fingers and summoned Skippy against his will as he appeared to be wearing a sleeping suit with his bowler hat and a teddy bear that had a tiny version of his outfit before he suddenly yawned and looked around, feeling startled and surprised. "Well, in The Fairy Tale Realm, the villains have an ability to do this..." he then said before he dug into the smaller man's chest.</p><p>Skippy let out an audible grunt and wince as the others grimaced as that looked painful.</p><p>Drell soon took out Skippy's heart which was glowing and beating. "Their hearts are mostly black if they have no love in their hearts," he then told the kids. "I can also speak into the heart to make Skippy say something whether he wants to or not. It can pretty much control him like a puppet, right, Skippy?"</p><p>Skippy just looked wide-eyed and a bit dead inside since his heart was missing.</p><p>"It can also hurt him if I squeeze it like a stress ball," Drell then said, squeezing at the heart a bit, giving his friend some pain. "Also... If I wanted to kill him... I could just crush it to dust... But Skippy's my friend so I won't. Any questions?" he then asked as Skippy tried to reach for his heart.</p><p>"Just put that thing back where it came from or so help me--" Lionel started.</p><p>"Oh, okay..." Drell replied as he shoved the heart back into Skippy's chest.</p><p>Skippy soon gasped and sighed in relief as he wiped his forehead.</p><p>"Thank you for volunteering." Drell said, patting him on the head a bit.</p><p>Skippy rolled his eyes and was soon sent back to where he came from.</p><p>"So... If villains in Once Upon a Time can do that... How can you too?" Thor soon asked.</p><p>"I learned the spell for in case an emergency happened during my visits there with Hilda and Zelda," Drell explained. "I just wish I had known it after we came to visit Oz since Zelena gave witches a bad name."</p><p>Lionel tilted his head. "Uh... I'm sorry, but who?" he asked.</p><p>"You might know her best as The Wicked Witch of the West." Drell clarified.</p><p>"I was also gonna marry her someday, then something happened... Something horrible..." Salem added as he put his paws to his face in fear and memory. "I mostly remember screaming Munchkins, Emerald City in peril, and flying monkeys everywhere. I must've provoked her horribly."</p><p>"I guess you had different ideas." Lionel remarked.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, the kids went to school for the day after they finished their breakfast and getting ready. The school bell rang as the students stood in the hallway before class. Jim was soon walking over to Sabrina.</p><p>"It's Jim." Sabrina noticed.</p><p>"Maybe he's coming to apologize for running out on you during your movie date." Thor smiled hopefully.</p><p>"I guess we'll see for ourselves." Mo replied.</p><p>"Hi, Sabrina." Jim said once he saw the blonde girl.</p><p>"Hey, Jim," Sabrina smiled. "What's up?"</p><p>"It's about our movie date..." Jim said. "We... Well... You know..."</p><p>"Oh, I know, we can watch a different movie, I'm sorry that I made you sick," Sabrina said. "I didn't think you'd be that scared."</p><p>"Actually... I don't think we should go on movie dates anymore, Sabrina..." Jim replied.</p><p>"Oh... Uh... Okay?" Sabrina frowned. "...I thought we were going out though."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Sabrina, it's not you, it's me," Jim said to her. "I just think we should see other people."</p><p>Sabrina looked pretty surprised by that. "But why?"</p><p>"You like scary stuff, and scary stuff makes me wanna puke violently," Jim replied. "No point in trying to change who you are for my sake... So I think it'd be better to go our separate ways."</p><p>Sabrina looked like she wanted to protest, but every time she opened her mouth, no words came out.</p><p>"We can probably still be friends," Jim offered. "If you would like."</p><p>"S-Sure, Jim... That sounds good..." Sabrina said, though her voice grew shallow and weak.</p><p>Jim nodded and he soon continued down the hallway before Sabrina stumbled a bit in her step and suddenly passed out.</p><p>"SABRINA!" The group panicked as they surrounded their fallen friend, as well as many other students.</p><p>"I-I'll be okay..." Sabrina said weakly before glancing over. "I deserved that."</p><p>"Hey, you're going to be okay," Lionel advised as he and the others helped her to her feet. "Wherever you intend to go, it's gotta be better than here."</p><p>"I'm still thinking about it." Sabrina nodded wearily.</p><p>Atticus then got her a cup of water from the drinking fountain.</p><p>"Oh, thank you." Sabrina said as she accepted it and drank from it.</p><p>The kids soon went to class as Cherry soon began to sketch Snow White and the other Grimm Avengers with a lot on her mind about things that were going on lately for her and the others.</p><hr/><p>The rest of the day went on as usual, but Sabrina was still reeling from that morning's events. Sabrina sighed as she sat in her desk as it was time for their last class of the day.</p><p>"Cheer up, Sabrina; it's going to be okay," Mo comforted. "We're going to be here for you no matter what."</p><p>"Thanks, guys." Sabrina smiled wearily.</p><p>"Ugh! I can't stay in school any longer!" Cherry soon cried out as she was about to go out the door, facing her friends. "You guys, we can't just sit here all day! We gotta do something about--"</p><p>The other students soon all looked at her, feeling confused and surprised at her outburst.</p><p>"I-I mean... We should all be studying..." Cherry said nervously. "We're going to be out of school very soon. Summer graduation will be here before you know it."</p><p>The other students looked at each other and shrugged and went back to studying until their teacher would show up.</p><p>"Well, okay," Lionel replied. "May as well get going."</p><p>The Toon Force went to go out the door as Mr. Gold suddenly appeared.</p><p>"And where do we think we're going?" Mr. Gold asked a bit crossly as he grasped the top of his cane.</p><p>"Oh, uh, Mr. Gold," Cherry blinked sheepishly as she stepped back. "You're almost late for class."</p><p>"I apologize, but after lunch hour, I had to have some private time," Mr. Gold replied. "Now, please... Sit down."</p><p>Cherry then quickly zipped over to her desk with her hands together on the top of the desk.</p><p>"Butt-kisser." Reggie muttered under his breath.</p><p>"Private time, hm?" Lionel wondered to himself. "Doing what exactly?"</p><p>Cherry glared back towards Reggie.</p><p>"If you must know, I was speaking to my wife." Mr. Gold replied softly.</p><p>Lionel nearly exploded with joy. "Well, far be it from me to pry in on your marital affairs!" he replied. "Hopefully she's doing well."</p><p>"I hope so too..." Mr. Gold said softly.</p><p>"Awww!" A lot of the girls pouted to hear that their new teacher had a wife.</p><p>"Now then... On with today's lesson..." Mr. Gold said. "I think we could use a pop quiz to go about what we studied yesterday. Miss Butler?"</p><p>Cherry looked up then.</p><p>"Would you mind passing out the papers?" Mr. Gold asked her.</p><p>Cherry shrugged and soon shuffled from her desk as she took the papers and went to give them to the other students before she suddenly looked at the clock, feeling panicked about spending time away from the Grimm Avengers. The clock seemed to move at a snail's pace, much to Cherry's aggravation. However, the intercom went off.</p><p><strong><em>"Attention, students and faculty,"</em></strong> Principal Weatherbee's voice called. <strong><em>"There will now be a required teacher's meeting and students are asked to go to the cafeteria for the remainder of the school day."</em></strong></p><p>Mr. Gold looked a bit annoyed about this as the students rushed out of the room, trampling over Cherry in the process. Drell soon looked around as he came into the room next, then grabbed Cherry by her hand and pulled her away, gesturing for Atticus, Mo, Lionel, Thor, and Sabrina to come with him. The group followed as Lionel restored Cherry to full strength on the way out. Cherry popped like a balloon and soon followed once she had the strength to keep up.</p><p>"I'm sorry I took so long, kids," Drell said as he led them down the hallway. "School wasn't too boring, was it?"</p><p>"No, we were just about to have a pop quiz though," Thor told his uncle. "Where are we going now?"</p><p>"I was luckily able to track down Snow and maybe even Sleeping Beauty and Red," Drell replied. "I haven't found the twins, but I'll send you straight there into The Enchanted Forest from when Snow ran away from her home kingdom to stay with The Seven Dwarves or as they sometimes like to call themselves The 7D."</p><p>"Well, they sound like an interesting bunch," said Atticus. "We'll need plenty of help if we're gonna figure this situation out."</p><p>"Of course, allow me to send you off right away." Drell replied.</p><p>"Aw, wait, I forgot my backpack." Cherry said before going back to the classroom.</p><p>Drell groaned and rolled his eyes. "Well, hurry up or we're leaving without you!" he then called out.</p><p>Cherry soon came back into the classroom before she suddenly heard crying and looked over as she came to her desk and grabbed her backpack.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Lacey," Mr. Gold cried, his voice sounding weak and distressed, with his hands buried against his face, though tears rolled down his cheeks. "I try so hard to get back to you... But it's impossible... Especially since I have no way to help you... I wanted to help you to help us... How could you ever forgive me?"</p><p>Cherry looked a bit sad as something about Mr. Gold crying broke her heart as she slowly slunk out of the classroom and shut the door behind him. "Gosh... I wonder what happened to Mrs. Gold?" she then said to herself softly. She then headed back to the cafeteria.</p><p>"What's with the hold-up?" asked Drell.</p><p>"...I was listening in on Mr. Gold before I left." Cherry explained.</p><p>"Oh, well, that excuses it..." Drell rolled his eyes.</p><p>"I felt bad for him!" Cherry defended. "He was crying about a woman named Lacey."</p><p>"I expected a little better from you, Cherry," Drell replied. "It's time to stop living in a world of fantasy and let me send you through a magic mirror with your friends to go into The Enchanted Forest. I was hoping to have a spell ready by now, but I'll have to go out of town for a new power source."</p><p>"So are we going with you?" Thor asked.</p><p>"No, I'm gonna send you to The Enchanted Forest now," Drell replied. "Maybe then you can help the Grimm Avengers and get back on track. I can send you there now, but I'll have a way to bring you back, this shouldn't take long. Hopefully the princesses like Snow White aren't dead by the time you get there."</p><p>"Yeah, that wouldn't be too good," Lionel replied. "So let's head up and move out!"</p><p>"So you're just gonna send us away without being sure if we can make it back home?!" Mo panicked.</p><p>"Relax, once I get to a town in Maine, I'll be able to do what I can," Drell insisted. "That's where the source of Fairy Tale magic is held... In a town called Storybrooke, Maine."</p><p>Cherry then suddenly took out her<em> Once Upon a Time</em> book as she felt a connection.</p><p>"Now go," Drell told them as he brought out the magic mirror as it glowed. "Snow White is waiting for you."</p><p>With unease in their hearts, the Toon Force stepped into the mirror, vanishing from the room. Drell soon looked around and took the magic mirror away. Mr. Gold watched him from afar and narrowed his brown eyes like he had a personal issue against the warlock, but more on that later.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, a huge, lush, and grand forest was being shown which was known as The Enchanted Forest in The Fairy Tale Realm where Hilda, Zelda, and Drell used to visit long before the Toon Force had been born.</p><p>Snow soon woke up and looked around as she saw that she was in the forest. "Well, that's not right..." she said as she looked up to the castle that had "M" banners all over the place; M for Magda. "Wait a minute... I know these woods... The dwarves must be close by..." she then said as she went to look for some help from her old friends before crying out as she suddenly got caught and carried up in some sort of net trap in the tree.</p><p>"Hands off, sister!" A short and grumpy man glared as he carried a spear out at her. "You're not taking <em>our</em> diamonds!"</p><p>"Ah, crap; did we land in Detroit?" asked Lionel. "Are we about to see somebody getting shanked?"</p><p>The short and grumpy man glared at them. "Who're these? Your spies?!" he then snapped. "I'm watchin' you punks."</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, Grouchy." Cherry said nervously.</p><p>"The name is <em>Grumpy</em>!" The short man narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"Grumpy, it's me, Snow White!" Snow told him from the trap she was trapped in. "You and your brothers helped protect me from The Evil Queen Regina!"</p><p>"Evil Queen Regina?" The dwarf scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I ain't never heard of no Evil Queen Regina. The only queen I know is Queen Magda."</p><p>"Regina Grimhilde?" Lionel pondered. "Sounds familiar!"</p><p>"Magda wasn't queen last time!" Atticus exclaimed. "I think we might've ended up at a later point in time!"</p><p>"If you want mine and my brothers' diamonds, you'll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands!" Grumpy glared.</p><p>Six other dwarves soon came from behind him with their own swords.</p><p>"Right, boys?" Grumpy asked his brothers.</p><p>"YEAH!" Five dwarves replied while one of them just waved his sword in the air in silence.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Mo said. "We don't want any diamonds!"</p><p>"And we're not gonna hurt you," Cherry added. "We just came to help Snow White like you guys did when The Evil Queen ran her out of the forest."</p><p>"What the HELL are you even talking about?" Grumpy snorted. "You're not gonna trick us by making up stories! Get 'em, boys!"</p><p>The dwarves soon jumped the group to attack them while Snow tried to break free from her trap.</p><p>"Well, we're not going down without a battle!" Lionel declared. "Toon Force, take 'em down!"</p><p>"AAAAUGH!" The group called out as the Toon Force and dwarf battle began.</p><p>Snow soon made an icicle and ripped the trap open and freed herself, landing on the ground with a grunt and stood up as the Toon Force fought the dwarves. "I'm so sorry, guys," she told the dwarves. "You deserved that though. You're not the dwarves I once knew."</p><hr/><p>Eventually, the dwarves lost the battle and were now knocked out.</p><p>"Snow White, we're so sorry," Cherry said to the princess. "We didn't wanna hurt them, but they had it coming."</p><p>"I understand, now come on, we better get going," Snow suggested. "Thank you for saving all of us though. The dwarves are all sweethearts really... Even Grumpy, he was like a father to me."</p><p>And so the group headed off.</p><p>"So, what did you mean by your theory?" asked Mo.</p><p>"I think we must've been sent several months into the future," replied Atticus. "Which would explain how Magda managed to take over."</p><p>"That would probably explain it," Cherry replied. "I just know that this is really freaking me out."</p><p>"I think Magda also had a feeling we'd come by." Thor commented.</p><p>"Why do you say that?" Sabrina asked. "Are there wanted posters of us?"</p><p>"Not really all of us, but here's this." Thor said as he took a poster off of a tree to show Atticus's picture on it that said: <strong><em>"WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, BUT PREFERABLY DEAD, THE NEPHEW OF QUEEN ATHENA OF ATLANTICA"</em></strong>.</p><p>"This is terrible!" Atticus panicked.</p><p>"I know!" Thor replied as he held the poster close beside Atticus's face. "They just can't get your nose right!"</p><p>Cherry face-palmed at that. "Well, we better go and see what's happening," she then said. "We've all been gone so long that we might be fugitives of the law in The Fairy Tale Realm."</p><p>"Yeah, time for invisibility," replied Lionel. "Either that, or we'll need to disguise ourselves!"</p><p>"Let's go for disguises for now so we don't startle anyone else we know just in case." Sabrina suggested.</p><p>Atticus then used his magic to give them all cloaks and put up his hood. "No wonder Red wears this thing all the time." he then said as he fastened his hood.</p><p>"If we get noticed, then we'll go invisible," Cherry suggested. "Hopefully we can at least find Red or Sleeping Beauty."</p><p>"I sure hope so," Snow nodded. "They are my very best friends."</p><p>"You know, since you guys are kinda heroes in your own way, maybe we could make a branch for The Justice League for you guys," Cherry then said with a small shrug. "Your adventures are really strange compared to us facing foes like Lex Luthor or The Joker, but I really have fun with you guys. That's why we call you the Grimm Avengers."</p><p>"It sounds like a big honor," Snow nodded. "Especially since you helped against Rumplestiltskin."</p><p>Everyone soon hiked up their hoods and they went to look for someone they would know, staying quiet and blended in as Magda's guards appeared to be at work in the middle of The Enchanted Forest and as they all walked along, they soon heard a loud KABOOM!</p><p>"...Anyone wanna tell me what that was?" asked Lionel. "Or at least what they think it was?"</p><p>"I think someone is close by." Cherry said before running into a tree since she wasn't looking where she was going.</p><p>The others surrounded her as she groaned.</p><p>"Ugh... It's okay, I'm not hurt," Cherry glared. "Wow, I feel stupid right now."</p><hr/><p>Red was soon shown to be in the tree, wearing her hood up as she grinned at herself.</p><p>"Well, we found Red," Mo stated. "So, huge plus there. Now whaddo we do?"</p><p>"Get down, kids!" Red called out from the tree.</p><p>Cherry and the others soon ducked down behind the tree. Red soon grabbed a pair of pistols for each hand as spears went flying and she jumped out, shooting her guns at the guards on her way out of the tree. The guards were then suddenly down and out.</p><p>"I'm glad to see you guys." Red grinned at the Toon Force.</p><p>"So you remember us?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Yeah, Magda sent us through time forwards, not backwards." Red nodded.</p><p>"I knew it!" Atticus exclaimed.</p><p>"Which leaves the question of how do we get back?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"I wish I knew how, but you guys will need some weapons." Red suggested.</p><p>"You happen to have any we could borrow?" Mo asked.</p><p>"Sure, at my granny's house," Red replied before seeing a guard that sat up. "In just a minute~"</p><p>The guard then groaned as he was still conscious, but in great pain.</p><p>"How do we get back?" Red glared as she stomped on him. "Where are the others?!"</p><p>The guard groaned as he didn't answer her right away.</p><p>"Fine..." Red glared and she soon shot him dead and loaded up her gun for another victim. "How many of you guppies do I gotta kill? I'll ask them." she then added before she went to grab her bow and arrows.</p><p>"So, uh, Granny's house?" Cherry asked nervously.</p><p>"Just over the river and through the woods," Red replied as she grabbed her bow and arrows. "Follow me and I'll help you kick villain butt Grimm Avengers-style."</p><p>"Nice!" Thor replied as he and the others followed behind.</p><p>And so, the group went over the river and through the woods.</p><hr/><p>They then made it into a woodsy cottage and Red was about to knock on the door, but it creaked open before she could.</p><p>"Granny?!" Red called out as she led the others inside with her, though she only heard her echo. "Granny! ...She must be out."</p><p>"Well, it's better than some psycho 90-year-old woman attacking us like Snow White's dwarves." Cherry commented.</p><p>There was then screaming heard before Cherry got tackled and pinned down onto the floor, roughly.</p><p>"Augh!" Cherry cried out.</p><p>"I told you once, I told you a thousand times, Wolf, STAY AWAY FROM MY LITTLE RED!" The old woman snarled as she pinned down Cherry with a knife to the perky goth's throat. "...Say, you're not The Wolf."</p><p>"No, but I think you're crushing my spine." Cherry groaned fearfully and in pain.</p><p>"So get off her, or else I'll make you wish you had Alzheimer's." Lionel said firmly.</p><p>"Watch it, buster," Red's grandmother glared as she stood up and got off of Cherry. "I survived The Ogre Wars, The Sleeping Curse of Princess Rosamund, and the Terrorist Giants Attacks, I'll come after <em>you</em>."</p><p>"Sorry about that, kid," Red said as he helped up Cherry back onto her feet. "Granny's very protective of me, especially since The Wolf killed my parents when I was a little girl."</p><p>"Yikes." Atticus said from that last part.</p><p>"Stop saying 'yikes' whenever something bad happens to someone." Thor scolded.</p><p>"Sorry." Atticus replied.</p><p>"Could we borrow some weapons, Mrs...?" Sabrina began.</p><p>"Folks in these woods call me 'The Widow Perrault', but you may call me Granny," The old woman said as she brought them into her bedroom and opened up her wardrobe closet to show an array of weapons such as bows, arrows, guns, crossbows, and swords. "Help yourselves, I just hope you know how to use them. I taught Red here how to shoot her first arrow when she was around the age of 8."</p><p>"Hmph, I admit that's pretty impressive." Lionel replied.</p><p>"You think <em>that's</em> impressive?" asked Thor. "This array is massive!"</p><p>"Help yourselves," Granny replied as she stepped back. "I'm so glad that you aren't dead, my dear."</p><p>"I'm glad too, Granny," Red nodded. "These kids are going to help us in the Grimm Avengers."</p><p>"That sounds wonderful," Granny approved. "I just hope that Wolf is gone too."</p><p>"He is," Red reassured. "These kids helped me, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Rapunzel against The Wolf when he teamed up with Rumplestiltskin."</p><p>"Then this shall be a happy day and an honor to have you kids in The World of Once Upon a Time," Granny said. "I shall train and help you should you need it... Anything to get rid of that Sea Witch: Magda."</p><p>"At least she knows who Red is, unlike the seven dwarves who didn't seem to remember The Evil Queen." Cherry commented.</p><p>"Then we must've been gone for a VERY long time," Lionel replied. "Magda was able to brainwash the dwarves, but the spell probably doesn't work on the elderly or something."</p><p>"I was hiding in my bunker after something happened," Granny explained. "I used it from when Princess Rosamund was cursed fall asleep for 100 years until her prince came to the rescue."</p><p>"An Anti-Magic bunker... Nice..." Thor commented as he took out a sword and practiced twirling and jabbing the air with it.</p><p>"I'm sure you kids can stop Magda the Mad," Granny said. "At least I hope so. I'd been wanting her gone ever since she crawled out of Atlantis."</p><p>"Then we share a common goal," Mo replied. "So we've got to get back to the past and make sure Magda doesn't seize power, but we need to find out HOW she seized power to begin with!"</p><p>"I wish I could tell you about that, but I'm afraid I don't even know." Granny replied.</p><p>"Thanks anyway," Sabrina sighed a bit. "You're not one of those soft grandmas. You're hardcore."</p><p>"And don't you forget it," Granny smirked as she bared her rolling pin. "I can change diapers, bake cookies, and give you 50 shades of a beating if you patronize me about my knitting, threaten my grandbaby, or try to take her away from me."</p><p>"Yes, ma'am!" The others saluted like young soldiers as they trusted Granny as their guide and mentor.</p><hr/><p>The only one they couldn't find was Sleeping Beauty and unknown to them, she would be very hard to find as she was somewhere they didn't expect nor would she want to be as it was anything but good.</p><p>"No... No, no, no, no, no, no, not again!" Rosa panicked once she woke up and looked around, trying to calm herself down. "Don't freak out! Don't freak out!" she then screamed, but no one would hear her screams as she was sealed inside of a container beside two of Magda's guards. "Small spaces are no big deal!" she then told herself, trying to press on the door before wincing as it somehow hurt her. "Ow!"</p><p>Jack and Jill were soon walking along together.</p><p>"Oh, Jack and Jill, thank goodness!" Rosa called to the orphans. "HELP ME! HELP ME!"</p><p>Jack and Jill looked over at her, though they didn't hear her.</p><p>"That's it, come to me... Come to your new Aunt Rosamund~" Rosa grinned hopefully.</p><p>Jack and Jill looked at each other and kept walking as they seemed to ignore her.</p><p>"What? No! NO!" Rosa cried out. "COME BACK!" she then sighed before she took out a small dagger. "Just in case... Thanks, Red..." she then said as she began to use the dagger to try to break out.</p><p>The guard looked over, and Rosa hid the dagger behind her back.</p><p>"Hey! Hey!" The blonde princess called to him, but he couldn't hear her. As soon as she was certain, she continued stabbing at the doorway.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Meanwhile, at Looking Glass headquarters, the buttons were being pushed on the control panel before it powered down. A canister was soon being filled and one of Magda's guards was shown to be holding onto it before leaving with another guard who opened the door for them both.</p><p>"Oh, not good," Alice began to panic. "No, no, no, very bad indeed. Don't worry, Alice, all is not lost yet," she said as she walked down the hallway, trying to calm down, but failed a bit. "We just need the power core to bring them back and we just need to find them first."</p><p>"Alice?" whispered the Hatter from down the hallway.</p><p>"Hatter?" asked Alice.</p><p>"I've a present for you, Alice," replied the Hatter. "Alice, come along now!"</p><p>Alice continued down the hallway and slipped past the Hatter.</p><p>The canister was brought to Magda, who observed the contents with sinful glee. "Put it with the other presents," she instructed; the guard nodded and walked off. "And wrap it!"</p><p>"Unhand me, you amphibious abomination!" Charles cried out in frustration as he was being dragged by a couple of guards. </p><p>"Now, Charles, is that any way to treat the help?" Magda grinned as she stood up from her throne and approached him, touching him against his chest. "You're a prince, darling. Soon, you'll be a king... Show some manners." she then added as she stroked his chin.</p><p>"I swear if you've hurt my beloved Snow or those darling children, I'll--" Charles glared firmly as he began to threaten the evil woman of the sea.</p><p>"You'll do what?" Magda challenged with a grin. "Don't think about them anymore, Charles. They're in the past."</p><p>"Impossible," Charles glared. "I think about them all the time. Every waking moment. Even if the children may not be my blood, I'd be sincerely delighted if they joined us at the throne. No matter how dank the cell you confine me to or unspeakable the tortures you subject me to or how long you confine me to the darkest depths of that abysmal abyss you call Atlantis, you will never touch my love for her, you wretched water witch! You fiendish fetid fish-faced flounder who will be forever remembered as nothing more than an unjumped, unsurping urchin."</p><p>Magda glowered at him in response.</p><p>"You'll never know a love like that, Magda," Charles continued without fear. "Least of all from me."</p><p>"We'll see about that," Magda retorted. "TAKE HIM AWAY!"</p><p>The guards left and took Charles away.</p><p>The crystal ball soon glowed and soon appeared a wild-haired blonde woman with black and purple clothes who had a malicious smirk. <strong><em>"Hello? Hello? Am I on?"</em></strong> she then asked.</p><p>"Yes, Rosina, you're on," Magda told the witch. "How are you liking your new friends?"</p><p><strong><em>"They're absolutely perfect, thank you,"</em> </strong>The witch grinned as she stepped aside to show Jack and Jill being held hostage in a candy-covered gingerbread house. <strong><em>"They can have all the sweets they want and maybe they'll end up like those children who helped me with my German chocolate cake."</em></strong></p><p>Jack and Jill looked unhappy to be separated from Snow White and Prince Charles and not even sweets could make them happy.</p><p>"I knew you and I would agree on a special deal," Magda grinned. "Now if only I could use Queen Athena's nephew to get back at her for taking what is rightfully mine... Triton should've chosen me, she's merely a child compared to him, especially since she came from that miserable Neverland place."</p><p>The two evil women laughed together while Jack and Jill looked unfortunate. Rumple was shown and was soon trying to hide from the woman.</p><p>"I have to go, Witchy Poo," Magda glared. "I have to punish an impish friend of mine."</p><p><strong><em>"Ta-ta for now."</em> </strong>Rosina replied as she hung up.</p><p>"You..." Magda soon glared towards Rumple once she saw the impish man. "You said you convinced him! Maybe you didn't see from your little hiding place, <strong>BUT HE DID NOT LOOK CONVINCED!</strong>"</p><p>"He will come around," Rumple defended as bravely as he could before he came out of hiding behind her throne. "Trust me, this will all work out."</p><p>"What is it then?" Magda glowered. "Threaten the city again? Torture him until he marries me?"</p><p>"No, no, nothing like that," Rumple reassured. "Look, you've just seen the opening act, but now it's time for the main event and what I have in mind will take a little more finesse, and you'll play a part."</p><p>Magda played with her new necklace as she glared at him. He was really in deep. In deep ocean water.</p><hr/><p>Back in the Enchanted Forest, Granny kept an eye on Red and her new young friends as they were practicing their weapon training to help bring down Magda with with training dummies all over her backyard. Each of the team members was growing more skilled with their weaponry as the time passed.</p><p>"You're all coming along just fine," Granny said as she sat in her rocking chair and polished her crossbow. "My son Peter was a very skilled and strong young man before The Wolf attacked him and his beloved, leaving my poor little Red all alone."</p><p>"I just feel so bad for Snow," Cherry replied. "Her best friends in the world had turned against her."</p><p>"Yes, I'm afraid the dwarves are very skilled soldiers in battle, but they couldn't be saved from Magda's power," Granny nodded. "I've been through a lot worse than this."</p><p>"Maybe Drell might know at which point Magda took over?" suggested Lionel. "Then he could send us to that point in time so we could prevent it from happening."</p><p>"I guess it depends on if we can get him over here in time," Sabrina replied. "I wonder where he is?"</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Meanwhile, it was night time in the Mortal Realm...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"So, you sent the kids away to a Fairy Tale Realm?" Zelda asked Drell who sat on the couch with her and Hilda.</p><p>"Yes, this is about the Grimm Avengers," Drell nodded. "I promise I'll get them back, I just have to leave this state and go over to that special town in Maine to perfect a spell that'll help them help the Princesses of Once Upon a Time."</p><p>Hilda and Zelda shared a look before looking back. "We understand." they then said, strangely without concern for Sabrina.</p><p>"I'm glad that you do," Drell replied. "Now Zelda, I'd like to ask Hilda something in private so if you would please... Go away..." he then said, waving his hand as though to shoo her away.</p><p>"Okay, okay," Zelda got up and walked out. "You do... Whatever, I don't care."</p><p>Drell and Hilda watched Zelda leave the room and she soon went upstairs and shut her bedroom door.</p><p>"So, Drell, what is it?" Hilda asked. "What did you have to ask me that Zelda couldn't hear?"</p><p>"Well, Hilda, as you know, we've been together for a long time..." Drell began. "So long that it feels like an eternity."</p><p>"We were both born about 600 years ago," Hilda smirked. "What's your point?"</p><p>"Oh... Nothing... Just... This..." Drell said before he began to get down on one knee.</p><p>"D-Drell..." Hilda whispered softly, putting her right hand to her chest as her eyes grew wide.</p><p>"Hildegard Antoinette Spellman... With no further delay in ruining our happy ending together..." Drell said as he popped open the tiny black box he had earlier. "Will you marry me?"</p><p>"OH, MY GOD!" Hilda squealed and gushed, putting her hands to her face. "Of course I will!"</p><p>The two squealed happily and Drell allowed Hilda to wear the ring and they both fell on the couch together before ending up on the floor as they laughed.</p><p>"We'll tell the kids about this later," Drell told Hilda as things seemed to be going his way. "I have to leave town so I can help the kids."</p><p>"Okay; hurry back, you big hunk of man, you~" Hilda giggled giddily.</p><p>"I'll be back, my delicious dumpling~" Drell smirked.</p><p>"I'll be waiting, my cheesy quisedella~" Hilda smirked back.</p><p>"I look forward to it, my scrumptious sugarloaf."</p><p>"Don't be too long, my lovely love man~"</p><p>"I shan't be, my tantalizing--"</p><p>"JUST GO ALREADY!" Zelda complained from upstairs.</p><p>"Uh, to be continued!" Drell chuckled bashfully as he left the Spellman house, walking over to his car with a spring in his step.</p><p>"I love that guy." Hilda gushed as she hugged her pillow while sprawling all over the floor as this felt like the happiest day of her life.</p><hr/><p>The full moon was shown in the night sky as a girl was shown to be on her roof as a wolf howl sounded and Drell was about to pass by the "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING TOWN" sign before suddenly, his tires popped and he had to come to a stop. "Dammit!" he then complained as he stopped the car and soon parked beside the sign and shined a flashlight on the flattened tires. "Damn!"</p><p>"Leaving town, Mr. Drell?~" A voice called to him, sounding a bit chilling and evil.</p><p>Drell nearly jumped out of his skin. "Huh? Oh, it's you." he remarked when he saw it was Mr. Gold.</p><p>"Yes, it's me." Mr. Gold smirked as he stepped into the light, leaning against his cane.</p><p>"What's a substitute teacher doing here in the middle of nowhere?" Drell glared.</p><p>"Funny... I thought you would've recognized the man who helped you in The Ogre Wars before my injury," Mr. Gold smirked at the warlock. "Unless you forgot what happened and what you did to me and Lacey."</p><p>"...Th-That was <em>you</em>?" Drell grew wide-eyed, though he stood his ground. "I-I... How did you get into this realm?"</p><p>"I, more or less, made a deal with a certain Witch of the Sea," Mr. Gold smirked. "You know me, I love me a good deal... Especially since it's <em>your</em> fault that my wife and son are no longer around."</p><p>"No, it isn't!" Drell defended. "That was a huge misunderstand--"</p><p>Mr. Gold silenced him as he soon reached deep into the warlock's chest, grabbing for his heart. "I'm afraid you must pay for such insolence." he then said, his tone becoming harsher and colder as he wore a smug snake-like smile on his face.</p><p>Drell wheezed as he tried to remove Mr. Gold's hand from his chest, but Gold simply wrenched Drell's heart out in his own hand.</p><p>"Now, I could crush your heart, but what would <em>that</em> accomplish?" The thinner and more feeble man smirked darkly. "I think I'll use this against your favorite pupils."</p><p>"No..." Drell whispered and gasped. "Please..."</p><p>"The most powerful man in the universe saying please?" Mr. Gold smirked as he squeezed his heart slightly. "And here I thought I've heard and seen everything!"</p><p>"What're you going to do?" Drell sputtered, sounding very weak, grunting from the squeezing as it caused him physical, internal pain. A cruel side effect of one losing their heart, especially in a way like this.</p><p>"I'm going to do the best I can," Mr. Gold grinned fiendishly. "Now... You're going to go into the Fairy Tale Realm and help your students and you're going to do exactly what I say..." he then waved his hand and made the warlock disappear in a puff of purple smoke as he chuckled a bit darkly and maliciously.</p><hr/><p>In the Fairy Tale Realm, Granny soon made lunch for the kids as it was still the middle of the afternoon before Snow was on her way into seeing them.</p><p>"You kids need to keep up your strength," Granny advised. "Plus you still need to find Sleeping Beauty."</p><p>"Too right," Thor nodded. "No sense going after her just to run out of energy on the way there."</p><p>"And you are quite the chef yourself," Granny said to Thor. "Maybe you could help me open up a diner. You make better porridge than bears."</p><p>"That'd be nice." Thor chuckled bashfully.</p><p>The kids continued to eat up while thinking about what they would do to stop Magda.</p><p>"I'm still thinking about what Drell said to me," Sabrina said softly. "I love hanging out with you guys, especially since you got Zatanna to help me out, but... Maybe I should just be somewhere else."</p><p>"Sabrina, if you wanna go to the other world, we won't stop you," Mo spoke up. "Yes, we'll be very sad to see you go, but the important thing is that you will be happy and we will still and always be your friends."</p><p>"Yeah, and we can always keep in touch," Lionel added. "Just cuz we'll be separated by alternate worlds doesn't change a bloody thing about our friendship."</p><p>"Thanks, guys..." Sabrina smiled sadly. "You're more understanding than Jim is."</p><p>"I wasn't really crazy about that guy, to be honest with ya," Cherry shrugged. "I was just being polite because you guys really liked each other and you were so happy with him."</p><p>"Oh..." Sabrina said softly. "I think maybe you were right about that."</p><p>"Well, maybe you'll find someone in that other reality who's into those kinds of things that you're into." Atticus suggested.</p><p>"I guess..." Sabrina shrugged. "I'm still on the fence about going."</p><p>"Whatever you decide, we're still friends." Mo promised.</p><p>"And cousins!" Thor smiled as he lifted Sabrina's right hand with his left hand, nearly making her slip from her chair.</p><p>"Oof! Thanks, guys." Sabrina smiled back at her friends who smiled supportively.</p><p>"All right, maggots!" Red called as she stomped her foot on the table, startling them. "I think you've had enough soup and sandwiches. We got a queen to overthrow."</p><p>"If you say so, Chief," Lionel replied as he got up. "Ready to rock when you guys are."</p><p>A whistle was suddenly blown, startling them.</p><p>"FALL IN!" Granny glared like a drill sergeant.</p><p>"Yes, sir!" The group replied as they stood up.</p><p>"Now... Let's round up Snow and head off and maybe we'll find Sleeping Beauty too." Red demanded as she held her quiver close.</p><p>"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!" Granny called out as they soon marched out the door with Red in the lead before she smiled tearfully. "Ooh, my baby girl is all grown up and saving The Fairy Tale Realm."</p><p>"So how exactly are we gonna find Rosa?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"We'll have to track her down," Red replied. "I have a feeling on where she might be though."</p><p>"Her castle?" Thor guessed.</p><p>"Magda's castle," Red corrected. "I have this sense that Magda took her for leverage."</p><p>"I guess that makes sense." Cherry shrugged.</p><hr/><p>They soon kept on walking before they seemed to pass a burial site that had seven spaces in it as they went to look for Snow who got lost from them after they had found Red and her grandmother.</p><p>"Snow! Snoooow?" Thor called. "Where are ya?"</p><p>They soon heard a sound in the distance. It was a sad sound. It was a crying sound.</p><p>"Huh? What's that?" Sabrina asked.</p><p>"Seems to be crying." Mo guessed.</p><p>They soon followed the sounds of crying and soon found Snow as she was sitting behind a tree, hugging her knees as she cried her eyes out about something. "It's wrong... It's all wrong..." she sniffled through her tears. "It's not supposed to be like this."</p><p>"There you are!" Lionel exclaimed.</p><p>"Well... It's definitely good to see you all," Snow sighed as she wiped her eyes. "Even if things aren't how they're supposed to be."</p><p>"We've been sent several months into the future," Atticus explained. "Long story."</p><p>"The dwarves don't even know me," Snow sniffled as she hugged her knees. "They've always protected me... They were like my father and uncles, especially after my father married that evil queen."</p><p>"We're sorry about the dwarves, but we can't let them stand in the way of our mission," Cherry replied. "And we're going to help you take down Magda."</p><p>"And who knows what's become of the twins?" Snow continued.</p><p>"We'll find Jack and Jill later," Sabrina promised. "Like Cherry said, we have a mission."</p><p>"...Okay," Snow said softly as she wiped her eyes and stood up. "I'll go with you."</p><p>"Next, we'll hafta find Sleeping Beauty, and then figure out what happened to the twins," said Mo. "And hopefully Magda is experiencing SOME kind of trouble."</p><p>Snow pouted deeply.</p><p>"Those kids really meant a lot to you, huh?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"They were always the children Charles and I wished to have," Snow nodded. "They're such good children that I always hoped that I could've raised them myself, even during the war before we first met in your world."</p><p>"We'll do our best to help you find them," Atticus replied. "No matter what."</p><p>Snow gave a small smile. "Thanks," she remarked. "That means a lot from you all."</p><p>"Well, we are pretty good helpers for our friends and you're definitely one of our friends." Mo smiled back.</p><p>Snow beamed as she wiped her eyes. "All right, let's keep going then." she then suggested.</p><hr/><p>The others nodded as they kept on going as this was a great start so far. A few guards soon jumped down at them with a sword, glowering at them.</p><p>"The Queen wants you all dead!" One of the guards sneered.</p><p>"Tell the Queen to take a number!" Snow retorted as she created an ice shard and soon threw it at the guard.</p><p>The guard soon shattered it before it could stab him.</p><p>"Oh, guys, I think we're supposed to be impressed." Snow scoffed.</p><p>"Let's show them real skills." Lionel remarked.</p><p>"I'm game if you are!" Thor nodded.</p><p>"Well, the hard way it is." Snow nodded as she soon grabbed a sword of her own.</p><p>The guards soon surrounded the group and it was time for a big fight. The Toon Force stood their ground, fighting more with swords than their superpowers and of course, the guards weren't going to go easy on them, even if they were children.</p><p>"Magda <em>will</em> pay!" Snow snarled bravely and strongly.</p><p>"In cash, checks, <em>and</em> blood!" Lionel added as Thor pitched him like a baseball, and he slammed into a few guards, knocking the wind out of their sails.</p><p>"Very interesting." Snow slowly nodded.</p><p>"Thanks!" Thor and LJ replied.</p><p>Cherry charged right up behind one guard with an axe. The guard soon saw her and grabbed the axe, breaking it with his knee and he soon grabbed her by her throat.</p><p>"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Cherry choked and grunted.</p><p>"Why not?" The guard smirked.</p><p>Atticus glared and he soon charged at the guard, flying toward him and punched him away from Cherry, sending him flying.</p><p>"Just a hunch..." Cherry then smirked once she landed into a sitting position.</p><p>Luckily for the Toon Force, they managed just fine without heavy use of their superpowers, in contrast to training with The Justice League. Snow also used the weapons that were at the burial site and due to her own personal training, she was just as good as they were. One guard refused to go down though, he just glared at them as he kept his sword close.</p><p>"Why won't he just go down?!" Atticus complained.</p><p>Sabrina looked around and ducked down as she saw a very large sword and the guard was about to slice her down with his large sword and he suddenly got stabbed in the gut as she held the sword upright.</p><p>"Five out of seven..." Snow said softly about the weapons they had used. "Thanks, boys."</p><p>"If the dwarves' weapons were here, why didn't they use them at the cottage?" Mo wondered.</p><p>"I dunno... I just don't know... Unless those weren't the real dwarves..." Cherry replied.</p><p>"Good moves out there," Snow told Sabrina as she put her hand on the teenage witch's shoulder. "You'd be great on the team."</p><p>"Oh, uh, thanks." Sabrina said softly.</p><p>"That would explain those seven holes," Lionel replied. "Magda probably created those illusions because she knew Snow wouldn't be willing to attack people who'd been friends to her so long ago."</p><p>"...That explains it..." Atticus's eyes slowly widened.</p><p>"But then that means..." Snow frowned, feeling even worse.</p><p>"Oh, Snow..." Cherry said softly as she decided to hug the princess as she felt something deep down inside of her change. "...This isn't like me, I don't usually hug first."</p><p>"You must be feeling empathy," Atticus said. "At least you're crawling out of your shell."</p><p>"All right, valuable lessons learned later, let's go filet this sea bitch." Cherry narrowed her eyes.</p><p>"Hoo-rah!" Lionel agreed. "The catch of the day is sweet revenge!"</p><p>Snow let out a small, warm chuckle at them.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Meanwhile...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"How will you convince him?" Magda glared as she stood in her dungeon.</p><p>"Magda, it's what I do." Rumple grinned innocently.</p><p>"I'm beginning to wonder exactly what you're up to." Magda warned as she forced her trident in the air, aiming for his throat.</p><p>"I told you: I want Atlantis!" Rumple reminded as he backed up nervously. "If I have to play matchmaker, it's a small price to pay."</p><p>"Hm..." Magda smirked before she moved her trident out of the way. "If I find out you're lying to me, I'll skin you alive. And feed you to the sharks... How 'outrageous'?" she then threatened with a take-that to Aquaman.</p><p>"Noted..." Rumple grinned sheepishly. "Now..." he then flinched as a guard came up right next to him. "Hey, Flipper, how's your acting?" he then asked feebly.</p><p>"Send in the twins." Magda then demanded.</p><p>Eventually, in came Jack and Jill with dead-eyed looks on their faces.</p><p>"Ah... Children... We're going to have a family reunion very soon," Magda smirked. "As well as some extra help for that so-called Toon Force. Rumple... Henchman... You're on."</p><p>The guard soon left with Rumple to do a bit of acting for Charles who was chained up.</p><p>"And as for you two, go into the deep depths of the forest and you shall meet your helper there." Magda told Jack and Jill.</p><p>Jack and Jill nodded.</p><p>"Now... Smile... You're going to see your mother again soon." Magda smirked.</p><p>Jack and Jill then smiled, looking cute and innocent before they left the castle. Magda cackled to herself, knowing everything was well in hand.</p><hr/><p>"One! More! Try!" Charles grunted and strained, trying to free himself from the tight chains, refusing to give up.</p><p>Eventually, the doors burst open, and in came Rumple, being shoved into the room by the guard he had asked for help.</p><p>"Unhand me!" Rumple cried out. "I'll never talk--... Oof!"</p><p>The guard then pounced him in his stomach suddenly.</p><p>"A little too method there, pal." Rumple muttered from the pain.</p><p>"Enough, man!" Charles glared once he saw the abuse.</p><p>"Point taken." Rumple muttered as he was soon chained next to the prince.</p><p>The guard soon walked away, leaving the two men alone. Rumple soon made up his name being "Rupert" and Charles talked about how he was once Prince Charles Charming III before something changed his life. Though we all know that this would only lead to disaster and it only looked like it was up to Alice and the Hatter at Looking Glass Headquarters to help the Grimm Avengers and Toon Force save The Enchanted Forest.</p><hr/><p>Speaking of which, back in the forest, Drell was shown to be sneaking around as Snow and the Toon Force wandered and looked through the forest.</p><p>"Knowing Red, she's probably gonna look for more guards," Snow said as they walked along. "I swear, most of the time that girl looks for more trouble than just protecting people from it."</p><p>"Well, she's a bit of a rebel without a cause," Lionel replied. "Kinda like James Dean, but she's necessary to the mission."</p><p>"Kids..." A familiar voice called.</p><p>The group looked around before Cherry took out a dagger and went running. "YAAAAUGH!"</p><p>Drell stepped out and soon held out his arm, making Cherry run into it and spun around like on a clothesline and then grunted once she suddenly landed in the middle of the ground. The group then surrounded Cherry.</p><p>"You okay?" Thor asked.</p><p>"Note to self... Look at who I'm charging at before I attack..." Cherry groaned as she rubbed her head.</p><p>Lionel helped her up and Thor dusted her off.</p><p>"What's up, Unc?" asked Thor. "You know the situation?"</p><p>"I cam here as soon as I could," Drell frowned. "I was really worried about you guys."</p><p>"So you found a way to get us home?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"Yes, all in good, due time," Drell nodded. "But before we get to that part, we have to get going to Magda's castle and immediately."</p><p>"We're gonna take her down." Sabrina promised.</p><p>"Yes, but not just to save the prince, I believe Princess Snow White has a couple of little stowaways that she's missing terribly right now." Drell then informed.</p><p>"The children?" Snow asked. "You've seen them?"</p><p>"I saw from my crystal ball that they were found by Magda and taken to her dungeon," Drell informed. "She plans to have them executed just to give herself more leverage and will let you kids go free under one condition, but I know that you won't give in." he then added mostly to Atticus.</p><p>"Me?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"Of course... Because you're Athena's nephew," Cherry said. "Magda must hate you as much or even more than she hates Snow White and Prince Charming."</p><p>"Out of the entire group, she probably wants you dead the most." Lionel added.</p><p>"Gee, thanks." Atticus sighed.</p><p>"So what're we gonna do, surrender Atticus over to Queen Magda?" Cherry asked sardonically.</p><p>"That would be the easy thing to do, but I happen to know for a fact that you kids are too close to each other to give up that easily," Drell replied. "Especially with Jack and Jill for Snow White since Magda already has her future king."</p><p>"That, she does," Snow remarked. "So, Tubby, you got a plan or what?"</p><p>"Don't make me turn you into a toad," Drell warned firmly. "I say we give her what she wants, Atticus, and come back with a bigger attack once we round up Red and Sleeping Beauty and take her down together that way."</p><p>"How do we know Magda won't just try to execute him as soon as she gets him in her clutches?" asked Mo.</p><p>"Sometimes you just don't know what'll happen unless you take a risk." Drell replied.</p><p>"I'll just sacrifice myself," Atticus sighed and closed his eyes. "I can't let you guys get killed just because of me."</p><p>"You always <em>were</em> the self-sacrificing type," Cherry remarked, staring her best friend and surrogate brother down. "Just try to keep that big head of yours alive, alright?"</p><p>"I'll give it my best." Atticus replied.</p><p>"It's very noble of you, Atticus," Drell replied as he spoke. "Who knows what Magda might do..."</p><hr/><p>"If you weren't given up?" Mr. Gold's voice asked as he was shown to be holding onto Drell's heart in an apartment building back home as he spoke into the heart, controlling what the warlock was saying like a living puppet. "I do hope though you won't get yourself killed, though I admire your maturity nonetheless."</p><hr/><p>"You're all very good kids." Drell then continued as he looked at Atticus.</p><p>"I'm hoping to make a deal with her," Atticus said. "Maybe I can work for her so that you guys and the Grimm Avenger princesses don't have to suffer just because she hates my aunt."</p><p>"Maybe, but she might make you do unspeakably awful things," Lionel replied. "Things that you'll never forget as long as you live."</p><p>"I just don't want you guys to get hurt," Atticus frowned. "If I have to stay here for the rest of my life, then I'm willing."</p><p>"We understand..." Mo said sadly, giving her boyfriend a kiss.</p><p>"WE'RE ALL GONNA MISS YOU!" Thor wailed as he gave his best friend a bear hug.</p><p>"Aw, Thor..." Atticus said softly, patting Thor's back in the hug.</p><p>Drell watched them in silence, rubbing the back of his neck a bit.</p><p>"I know we haven't known each other long, but you would make an excellent soldier in Charles's royal guard," Snow said to Atticus. "I hope you find something somewhat enjoyable in these parts."</p><p>"I'll go on ahead," Atticus said. "And Cherry?"</p><p>Cherry glanced over.</p><p>"I know your parents are hardly best parent material these days, but thank you so much for letting me in your house or sneaking me some food before I found Clark and my birth parents," Atticus said softly. "You have no idea how much that meant to me."</p><p>"And no matter what happens... You're a jerk to me, but that's only because I love you," Cherry said softly. "And you'll always be the brother I never had."</p><p>Lionel stepped up. "Good luck, amigo. I'm gonna miss you a lot," he replied calmly, trying not to show his grief. "Sorry things had to turn out this way."</p><p>"It's okay..." Atticus said softly before facing the warlock. "Drell, please let me go to Magda."</p><p>"Of course, son..." Drell replied. "You did what you could."</p><p>"Goodbye, everyone." Atticus said with a small nod.</p><p>"Goodbye, Atticus." Sabrina frowned emotionally.</p><p>Lionel took out a Sharpie and drew a little mark on the back of everyone's right hand. "I saw it on TV once. This way, no matter how far we are, we'll always be friends." he said.</p><p>And so, Atticus was escorted to Magda's castle. The doors shut behind Drell and Atticus. The Toon Force sniffled and shared a brief moment of silence together as Atticus was gone, possibly forever.</p><p>"C-Come on," Cherry said. "Let's have some alone time."</p><p>"Seems that no matter what I pick, I'll be losing one friend forever anyway." Sabrina said softly, still thinking about Drell's offer.</p><p>"All the more reason to make sure Magda doesn't seize power." Lionel replied.</p><p>They soon went their separate ways as they let Atticus get settled. Drell watched them go and had a bit of a sadistic grin on his face as he brought Atticus into the castle.</p><hr/><p>Red was soon having a bit of solo target practice and soon shot her arrows at three targets that were perfectly lined in a row together.</p><p>"There you are." Cherry said once they saw Red.</p><p>"Just having some solo target practice and learning more about the enemy before we find Sleeping Beauty." Red smirked proudly.</p><p>"So glad you could make time to have a little fun." Lionel replied dryly.</p><p>"Say, weren't there more of you?" Red asked.</p><p>"Atticus decided to sacrifice himself to Magda," Cherry said softly. "Who knows what'll all mean once we actually go and face her?"</p><p>"I hate to say it, but he might just be dead by that time." Lionel replied.</p><p>"...Where's the punchline?" asked Red.</p><p>"There isn't one," Lionel said. "You know things are shitty when even the comic relief doesn't have any comedy to offer at a time like this."</p><p>"Hmph... Well, that sucks." Red snorted.</p><p>"You're telling me." Lionel nodded.</p><p>"At least you're ready for these guards," Snow remarked. "We ran into some and one of them was ready for us, mostly me."</p><p>"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the last one in these woods, they weren't crawling with Magda's mermen." Red said as she picked up one arrow from the guards and polished it clean.</p><p>"Something's different... It's really changed..." Snow sighed as she looked around the forest.</p><p>"Magda really ruined your lives," Cherry said. "She took my best friend. I can't let her get away with this."</p><p>"None of us can let her get away with it," Lionel replied. "For this, she must pay."</p><p>"We'll go back soon then," Red decided. "We'll all take out the guards, bring down Magda, and get your friend back. I can't believe your uncle would let this happen."</p><p>"Yeah, if anything, Drell probably would've sacrificed himself," Snow commented. "He was usually pretty brave and fearless for everyone else, especially Hilda and Zelda. We just have to be careful. If Magda somehow marries Charles, she controls all the land, including the Gateway."</p><p>"Which is why you weren't just sent back home," Sabrina said. "You were sent back in time."</p><p>"Or another dimension," Snow nodded. "We need to figure out how to get back and then we can fix all of this! Atticus is important to you guys and Jack and Jill are important to me too."</p><p>"Did Drell's energy seem... Off, somehow?" asked Mo.</p><p>"How so?" asked Cherry.</p><p>"He seemed kind of distant." Mo replied.</p><p>"He seems the same to me." Cherry shrugged.</p><p>The others then looked over at the warlock teen. "Thor?"</p><p>"Huh?" Thor blinked.</p><p>"You know him best," Cherry said. "Does Drell seem a little off to you?"</p><p>"...Maybe a little bit," Thor replied. "Maybe we can check him out when he comes back. I thought I was just too sad about Atticus leaving."</p><p>"I reckon we'll see," said Lionel. "That just leaves our next course of action for while we wait for Drell."</p><p>"We'll wait for you then," Snow said to the Toon Force. "Nobody gets left behind."</p><p>"Thanks, Snow." The Toon Force smiled softly.</p><p>"I might have an idea on getting us back though before we move on." Red suggested.</p><p>"Care to share?" Mo asked.</p><p>"Of course," Red reassured. "If Magda's using the Gateway to send back all these mermen..."</p><p>"Then we could use it to get back!" Snow then added. "Why else would she be sending all these mermen to get us and anyone who would help us?"</p><p>"This is why we have to get back to before the wedding!" Sabrina said. "Before all of this happened and then Atticus won't need to sacrifice himself to Magda!"</p><p>"Now if we just knew which way the mermen were coming from," Thor nodded. "Red, you don't happen to know which way they came from, right?"</p><p>"Yeah, somewhere back that way far away where I came from, not too far away from this giant gingerbread house." Red said as Drell was soon coming back over to see Snow, Red, and the Toon Force.</p><p>"Just in case, we'll keep it quiet from Drell." Lionel replied with a whisper.</p><p>"Welcome back," Mo said. "Find anything good after you dropped Atticus off?"</p><p>"It seems that Magda is going to spare Atticus on a couple of conditions." Drell replied.</p><p>"Meaning...?" Sabrina asked.</p><p>"I send you kids back home so you can forget about all of this Enchanted Forest nonsense and Atticus will stay here as a royal guard for Queen Magda," Drell said. "It might be for the best."</p><p>"You're saying to give up, basically," Lionel replied. "...Drell, did you recently catch some kind of brain-munching parasite?! We've never given up before, so why the hell should we start now?"</p><p>"I'm not saying we give up," Drell said. "I just think it's best that you forget about Atticus."</p><p>"How can you say that?" Cherry asked. "He's been my friend for what feels like my whole life!"</p><p>"Come now, this is a job for the Grimm Avengers," Drell replied as he gave them all a dead-eyed gaze in his eyes. "Let's go home."</p><p>"But! But! But!" The group stuttered and stammered.</p><p>"No buts," Drell said as he lumped them all together and began to push them through the forest. "Now, let's get out of here and forget about the gingerbread house that Red just told you about."</p><p>"Wait, what gingerbread house?" asked Lionel. "...Now my curiosity is piqued beyond belief!"</p><p>"No, no, you shouldn't go there," Drell shook his head. "There's a witch there who'll eat children, especially mortal children."</p><p>"You know that we're not regular mortals though!" Mo replied.</p><p>"Yes, but one of you has mortal blood." Drell said as he looked at Sabrina.</p><p>Sabrina gulped in response as that made her nervous.</p><p>"Please, I'll take you home, let Red and Snow worry about their fight." Drell then said.</p><p>"Damn it... Fine, we'll go." Lionel scowled as he and the others had no choice but to leave.</p><p>"Excellent..." Drell replied. "Let's get going."</p><p>Red and Snow looked concerned about that and Snow soon took out a large tree branch and went to strike it down on Drell's head. Drell glared at the branch broke in half from his strength and looked over at Snow.</p><p>"I don't trust you..." Snow glared.</p><p>"I think you better stay out of my way," Drell glared back. "You don't know what I'm capable of."</p><p>"Look, he's our mentor," said Mo. "We don't really have much choice in this situation. Not to mention he's stronger than we are."</p><p>"You can't just quit..." Snow said softly. "We promised to help each other."</p><p>"We gotta go, Snow," Cherry replied. "You and Red take care."</p><p>Red and Snow looked at each other in concern as Drell continued to bring the Toon Force back home.</p><p>"This can't be the end, can it?" Thor frowned softly. "It just can't be."</p><p>"Sometimes you just have to go with an adult's best interest," Drell replied. "That's just how life goes sometimes."</p><p>"Bogus..." Lionel fumed as he and the others were guided out through an exit portal.</p><p>"Now you just say here... And take care..." Drell replied before he seemed to pause before finishing his farewell statement. "...Children."</p><hr/><p>The Toon Force looked at each other once they were back in the Spellman family attic and Drell decided to go downstairs.</p><p>"Guys, we can't give up with Atticus surrendered to Magda while Red and Snow need our help!" Thor cried out. "I know what Uncle Drell said, but I can't risk being away like this!"</p><p>"You and me both, man!" Lionel replied. "But what can we do?"</p><p>"We go back," Cherry narrowed her eyes. "When the time is right, we go straight back into the Enchanted Forest and help the princesses and skip school if we have to!"</p><p>"Skip school?" Mo asked. "Isn't that a little risky?"</p><p>"No one will stand in our way," Cherry retorted, crossing her arms. "Not even old Wetblanket Kraft."</p><p>The rest of the group felt unsure about skipping school.</p><p>"Relax, you guys," Cherry reminded them. "Drell finds ways to get us out of school without getting us in trouble. There's NO WAY we're gong into school tomorrow, it's just a test for our independence!"</p><p>"For our sakes, I hope you're right," said Mo. "If Atticus is still alive, we'll find him. And if he isn't... I'll personally fillet Madga myself."</p><p>"I'm right there with ya." Cherry nodded.</p><p>Eventually, the kids went home to get some sleep and ready for school the next day.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Meanwhile...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"Those children may suspect a few things, I was too close to getting in trouble," Mr. Gold said to himself as he rubbed his hands together, sitting cross-legged in his chair. "I just need to get the rest of their hearts and then I can finally open up the other Gateway into The Better Place... I'll be coming home to you... I promise..." he then said as he stroked a framed picture of a golden brown-haired and blue-eyed woman. "I miss you so much that it hurts me deep inside... I hope you missed me too."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day then came as the group got up and ready for school, though they missed Atticus terribly. So naturally, they weren't exactly feeling too enthused about the next school day.</p><p>"I'm not sure what it is, but today in school feels wrong..." Cherry said as she came to her locker.</p><p>"Teacher's Pet! Teacher's Pet! Teacher's Pet!" The girls glared at Cherry.</p><p>"Hey!" Cherry glared back as she turned around at them. "What did I do to you?!"</p><p>"You know what you're doing History class," Prudence glared. "You're making all of us look bad by being Mr. Gold's little helper!"</p><p>"He asked me when he didn't even know me yet," Cherry face-palmed. "I didn't volunteer myself! Ugh! Your bullying makes no sense!"</p><p>"I think you should leave Cherry alone." Thor narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"So what? Who's gonna make me, Blimp Butt?" asked Prudence.</p><p>"<em>I</em> AM!" Thor thundered. "<strong>GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!</strong>"</p><p>The girls began to look scared and nervous.</p><p>"<strong>GIVE HER SOME SPACE!</strong>" Thor snapped.</p><p>The girls then turned pale and dashed away. Mr. Gold glanced over as he noticed that, stepping out of the Teacher's Lounge.</p><p>"Wow... Thanks, Thor..." Cherry said softly and bashfully.</p><p>"Aw, it was nuthin'." Thor smiled.</p><p>"Hm... I sense great strength and magic in that boy's heart... A lot like Drell's..." Mr. Gold chuckled as he hid in the shadows as Cherry and Thor bonded.</p><p>"Let me carry your books." Thor smiled at Cherry.</p><p>"Uh, that's okay," Cherry chuckled sheepishly as she walked away from him with her books in her arms. "I better get to English for my new poem."</p><p>Thor smiled and waved innocently before his eyes widened as a hand reached behind his back and grasped out his still, beating heart as he suddenly turned gray and looked a little miserable. "Time for the others to make fun of my size and intelligence for about 45 minutes..." he droned as he slowly walked to his next class as the bell rang.</p><p>Mr. Gold already had one heart collected... Next would be the Element of Comedy, but by the time this was done, he would be the only one laughing. Class went by normally, though Cherry's friends seemed to disappear one-by-one during the day.</p><hr/><p>"Okay, I can't stay in school all day," Cherry said. "When it's lunchtime, I'm rounding everyone up and I'm going straight to the Spellman attic and using their magic mirror to get back to the Enchanted Forest. And no one is going to stop me." she then narrowed her eyes.</p><p>"Miss Butler... Your grades seem to be slipping..." Mr. Gold said from right behind her, making her turn around with wide eyes as she hugged her textbook. "I've called your family and they suggest that you stay after school for some one-on-one sessions."</p><p>"Heheh... I'd love to, Mr. Gold, but I have an emergency before lunch and have to go straight home..." Cherry grinned bashfully as she backed away from him. "Uh, yeah, that's right... So, uh, whoever called you is probably a liar right now, I have, uh, a dentist's hair appointment or something like that."</p><p>"Nice try," Mr. Gold smirked. "I just need your heart, and I should be good to go," he took out a rubber glove and snapped it onto his hand. "Now hold still, this shouldn't hurt... On a physical level, at least."</p><p>"NOOO!" Cherry cried out as she ran from him.</p><p>"Get back here!" Mr. Gold growled through his teeth.</p><p>"Jeez! What's with that guy?!" Cherry asked. "It's like he's not even human or something!" she then suddenly stopped to think to herself. "Hmm... I wonder..." she then looked at the clock as it was almost lunchtime before smirking as she had an idea and called out, waving her hands in the air from where she stood at the end of the hallway. "Heeey, come get me! I have a nice, ripe, and juicy heart in my chest!" she then called out to lure him over.</p><p>Mr. Gold soon stalked after her as Cherry stared at the clock.</p><p>"Come on... Come on..." Cherry begged as she sweated nervously. "COME ON!"</p><p>Luckily, the school bell then rang for lunch and Cherry hid inside of a locker and the classroom doors slammed open as students stampeded out the doors and blocked Cherry, nearly trampling over Mr. Gold on the way.</p><p>"Never thought I'd be so glad to watch a stampede..." Cherry remarked as she opened the door and walked off casually.</p><p>The hallways soon cleared as the older man groaned and woke up in the middle of the floor. He then looked around like a predator grazing around for his prey.</p><p>"That was clever, Cherry... Very clever indeed... But you won't stop me..." Mr. Gold narrowed his smoldering sepia eyes. "Queen Magda will destroy the Grimm Avengers, as well as giving me the Gateway to see my precious family... And I'll take your heart even if I have to pry it from your cold, dead hands."</p><hr/><p>Cherry soon made it out of school and was on her way to the Spellman house. "Okay, surely they have a book on this weird guy," she said to herself. "Plus I can use it, then I can hide if he comes to the house and Drell can help Hilda and Zelda protect me while I try to find a way to save my friends... And the Grimm Avengers... If Magda hasn't had them killed first..." she said with a deep gulp. "Now, now, relax, Cherry, you have nothing to be afraid of... After all, it's not like he's gonna find and catch you right away... It's Pizza Day in the cafeteria!" she then walked right into the Spellman door after opening it. "Hello?! Hilda? Zelda? Salem?!" she then called out. "Is anybody in here?!"</p><p>There was then loud grunting and squealing heard upstairs.</p><p>Cherry looked panicked and wide-eyed before she slammed the door open with a glare. "All right, Gold, what have you done with--" she then sneered before grimacing and looking wide-eyed. "Eugh... I have seen things that I cannot unsee..."</p><p>Drell and Hilda grinned at each other lustfully as they were shown to be in bed together with the comforter covering their chests and their hair was wilder and Drell's hair was crazier than usual as they sat up together as Cherry turned away, looking green around the gills.</p><p>"Alright, I just need to find the others," Cherry said nervously. "Then I should be good, right? ...RIGHT?!"</p><p>"Cherry, are you okay?" Hilda smiled gleefully. "You look like you've seen a ghost."</p><p>"Uh, no," Cherry said calmly before flipping out. "I look like I JUST SAW ONE OF MY FRIEND'S AUNT SCREWING THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE UNIVERSE!"</p><p>Drell soon magicked himself and Hilda into their clothes before flashing his wand in Cherry's face.</p><p>"Huh? What? What?" Cherry blinked. "What happened?"</p><p>"You're out of school for some reason without your friends?" Drell prompted.</p><p>"How was school, dear?" Hilda smiled obliviously.</p><p>"Oh, it was nice," Cherry shrugged. "Thor defended me against bullies, Lionel told some nice jokes before class, Sabrina's still sad about living here, and oh, yeah," she then had a major panic attack. "MR. GOLD JUST TRIED TO RIP MY HEART OUT FROM MY CHEST!" she then panted heavily and wide-eyed, having a cartoonish meltdown. "Man, I've been hanging around Lionel for too long."</p><p>"Your teacher tried to take your heart out?" Hilda asked as Drell whistled innocently. "That almost sounds like--... No, it can't be him... That man's long gone by now."</p><p>"Who? <em>WHO</em> ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Cherry yelled. "This information could prove vital to MY VERY SURVIVAL!"</p><p>Drell shoved a cookie into Cherry's mouth. Cherry muffled a bit before spitting it out.</p><p>"You won't find this information in this realm," Hilda said as she put her arm around Cherry. "You must go into the Other Realm's Archives. Look for the name 'Cedric Gold'."</p><p>"You two are coming with me, right?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Sorry, but there are just some things you have to do on your own," Drell told Cherry. "You know where to go."</p><p>Cherry sharply sighed and she walked off into the linen closet to visit the Other Realm.</p><p>Drell watched her go before he went downstairs and put his hand against his chest. "Lady Gothika has entered the Other Realm," he soon reported. "Standby for further instruction."</p><hr/><p>"Excellent..." Magda smirked as she had a heart in her hand. "There's no way she and the rest of that Toon Force will be able to make it back in time to save Prince Charles, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red. Agent Gold will be with you momentarily."</p><hr/><p>Cherry entered The Other Realm archives all on her own as fog danced on the floor and she saw countless shelves and thousands and thousands of books. "Ugh... This is gonna take all day... Maybe even four..." she groaned a bit before she went to explore the archives.</p><p>The time was shown to be 12:15 and some time passed as it was now 5:00.</p><p>Cherry panted as she was surrounded by piles of books before wearily reaching for the final book on the final shelf. "Had to be the last one..." she said, grunting in exhaustion.</p><p>The back doors soon opened behind her and closed, but she was too tired to care or notice as Mr. Gold soon showed up and held his cane in his hands, not even limping as he went to sneak up right behind Cherry.</p><p>"'Cedric Gold'... There we go..." Cherry said as she skimmed through the book. "<em>'Once upon a time, in The Enchanted Forest'.</em>.." she then began to read about The Ogre Wars and The Troll Wars that occurred in The Fairy Tale Realm and turned the page to see Mr. Gold centuries ago as she looked wide-eyed as she flipped through the pages and began to hyperventilate and saw that Mr. Gold had a family before the war and that Drell was a friend of his before a tragedy happened as Mr. Gold began to rise up his cane to knock her out with.</p><p>"Hey, wait a second!" Cherry exclaimed as she suddenly jumped out of the way of Mr. Gold's cane. "What the hell?! So it was <em>you</em>!"</p><p>"I knew you were smart..." Mr. Gold smirked as he got ready to whack her at that time.</p><p>"What's this all about, man?!" Cherry glared as she grabbed his cane before it could hit her.</p><p>"That's my business," Mr. Gold glared back coldly. "Now be a good little girl and let me hit you so you can join your friends."</p><p>"What have you done to my friends?!" Cherry glared. "I'm smarter than I look!"</p><p>"Well, you know what they say... Curiosity killed the cat..." Mr. Gold shrugged as he walked off in front of her before coming from behind and then hit her on the head at that time. "Or in this case, GAVE HER A HEAD CONCUSSION!"</p><p>"Ah!" Cherry yelped and then fell on the floor.</p><p>Mr. Gold soon dragged her by her hood and tossed his cane away as he pulled on a different book on the shelf which opened a special door and he walked inside of it, pulling Cherry down the stairs and the door closed behind them.</p><hr/><p>"And now, for the moment of truth," Mr. Gold declared as he reached into Cherry's chest and fished out her heart. "Ooh, this one's got a bit of darkness inside of her..." he remarked as he saw some inky blackness on Cherry's otherwise-red heart. "Either way, beggars can't be choosers."</p><p>"Please... Don't..." Cherry wheezed once she came to, being tied up in a chair and her friends appeared to be tied up in other chairs, knocked out and now gray-colored like they had something missing... Something important and valuable.</p><p>"Oh, hello there," Mr. Gold glanced over as he held her heart like a treasure. "I see someone woke up prematurely."</p><p>"Please... Don't take our hearts..." Cherry begged weakly. "Whatever you want... I-I-I'll give it to you... Just don't... Don't keep our hearts... Surely we can... Guh... Talk about this..."</p><p>"But there's the problem," Mr. Gold replied. "I want your hearts and I have them, so it's kind of pointless to try and bargain with me."</p><p>"Please... Just let me talk to you..." Cherry begged.</p><p>Mr. Gold began to squeeze on her heart.</p><p>"Yaaugh!" Cherry yelped from the pain.</p><p>"Five... Five Elemental Hearts... That's how many I've collected so far..." Mr. Gold glared. "Six is what I need... And then I can make my wish come true and get back at Drell for what he did to me during The Ogre Wars."</p><p>"I don't suppose you couldn't tell me what hap--" Cherry began before yelling in even more pain as he gave her heart a firm squeeze. "S-S-S-Sir, I am BEGGING you! At least tell me <em>why</em> you want our hearts!" she then cried out as strongly as she could. "What do you have against Drell?"</p><p>"He ruined my life..." Mr. Gold narrowed his eyes. "So I'm going to ruin his by destroying the kids he's closest to."</p><p>"B-But why?" Cherry asked shallowly. "I know Drell's a giant pain in the butt, but he's changed... Sorta... Just... Talk to me..."</p><p>Mr. Gold soon put her heart in his pocket and sat down in front of her, looking her in the eyes. "I was once a very happy man..." he began to tell her. "We were both drafted into The Ogre Wars, every male from every household was made to go and that included me. I had been married to the girl of my dreams for a long time. Drell promised me he'd help keep them safe at home... My beloved wife, Lacey... My two dear children: Baelfire and Rose. My goal was to come back home in time to watch my kids grow up and grow old with my wife... After the war ended, I came home... And my home and family were both destroyed... Drell let me down and broke my heart and turned me into a life of darkness..." he then glared. "My heart became black as the night sky... I wanted to visit the Gateway to get into the Heavens so I could see my family again... But my heart was too black, I was denied access... I then came across Magda who wanted to go through the timestream herself to prevent Prince Charles from becoming Snow White's King... We shared a similar goal... And your and your friends' hearts carry The Sacred Elements, similar to that of Equestria, a land of magical horses and other creatures... With your hearts, I can open the gateway and bring my family back after spending nearly 10 centuries walking the Earth without them. And I don't intend for YOU to understand. You don't know what it's like to have everything you've had to love and work your way up to just gone and taken from you without you being able to do anything to prevent it."</p><p>"Sir, that's really messed up, but... I-I'm sorry that had to happen to you..." Cherry soon said to him softly as she began to somewhat feel something deep within herself. "It's no fun losing your family... And I felt hurt and bad for Atticus when it happened to him... And I nearly lost my family too... I know what you're feeling... Really..."</p><p>"WHAT?!" Lionel exclaimed, turning red with anger. "You mean he ripped out our hearts like Mola Ram because he wanted to get his family back?! I wonder how they'd feel living with a monster who ripped out the hearts of teenagers? If THEY don't kick your ass, Lord knows I will!"</p><p>Mr. Gold then took out Lionel's heart and squeezed hard down on it.</p><p>"YAAAUGH!" Lionel cried out in pain.</p><p>Mr. Gold narrowed his eyes as dust nearly fell from Lionel's heart. "I didn't expect ANY OF YOU to understand," he then said. "And that's why I'm taking your Elements away."</p><p>"S-Stop!" Cherry cried out. "Please! Don't hurt him!"</p><p>"Don't worry, he won't feel it much longer," Mr. Gold glared. "Once his heart becomes a pile of dust, he won't feel <em>anything</em>."</p><p>"Your reasons are petty and selfish... I'm sorry about your family... But please... Don't take your anger out on us..." Cherry begged. "I'll do anything... Just don't crush our hearts to dust."</p><p>"...You're right," Mr. Gold replied. "Besides, I need <em>all</em> of your hearts for the spell to work. After all, I haven't crushed Drell's just yet."</p><p>"Please... I'll do anything... If you spare us..." Cherry begged. "Surely I can find a different spell for you to use without our hearts."</p><p>Mr. Gold narrowed his eyes at her.</p><p>"Please..." Cherry begged, nearly crying. "I'm sorry you lost your family, but it's selfish to kill us just so you can see them again."</p><p>Mr. Gold glared before looking at Cherry's heart as it glowed a bit within the darkness while still a bit dark. "...You feel sorry for me..." he then realized. "It appears you have The Element of Empathy."</p><p>"Yeah... Sure... I'm empathetic..." Cherry grunted. "That's how Atticus and I became friends... So, please... Let us go back to the Enchanted Forest... If I can't find some way to help you..." she then gulped and bowed her head. "I'll spend the rest of my life as your personal servant... As long as my friends can live happy lives."</p><p>"You know, little lady? You remind me of someone, but the name escapes me at the moment," said Mr. Gold. "But alright; I'll accept your little offer. I could use some company if things don't work out."</p><p>"Alright," Cherry sighed. "And what of my friends?"</p><p>"I'm keeping a close eye on them," Mr. Gold replied. "If the yappy little one tries anything, I'll crush his heart into powder and make the rest watch him die."</p><p>Cherry gulped at that. "Deal..." she then said.</p><p>"Shame someone as smart as you works with someone like Drell," Mr. Gold sighed and shook his head. "Alas, I cannot help you there."</p><p>Mr. Gold soon let the group go and they temporarily had their hearts back. "And I'll take you into The Enchanted Forest," he then said. "Your friend you left there could be in grave danger as he is Magda the Mad's most dreaded target's nephew. Magda's tried several times to be rid of Athena... Until a strong and noble future king merman swooped in to save her after she summoned pirates to attack and one of their ships was just about to crush her to death."</p><p>"Triton..." Cherry realized.</p><p>"Yes..." Mr. Gold nodded. "Now, I suppose I'll round you all up and take you over to the Enchanted Forest since Drell's a little tied up."</p><p>"If you hurt him, so help me, I'll... I'll..." Cherry glared a bit.</p><p>"Don't hurt yourself, dearie," Mr. Gold reminded. "We made a deal and <em>nobody</em> breaks a deal with me."</p><p>Cherry gulped as she calmed herself down, even if a bit fearful.</p><p>"Now go..." Mr. Gold said as he uncovered a new magic mirror. "Hopefully Snow White and Little Red have found and gathered Sleeping Beauty by now. I just hope Magda doesn't go for Cinderella and Rapunzel next."</p><p>Cherry sighed as she had to go through the mirror portal, leaving her friends' fate in Mr. Gold's hands. Mr. Gold nodded as he stood by and let her go. Cherry yelped as she soon traveled back into the Fairy Tale Realm.</p><hr/><p>"I still don't understand," Red said as she walked with Snow. "In the present or the future, if Magda marries your boy, Charming, then she controls all of time?"</p><p>"Because we and our new allies weren't there to stop her," Snow explained. "I'd hate to imagine what she's done to Jack and Jill. All we have to do is find a way back, then we can undo all of this."</p><p>"If we get back to the right time." Red countered.</p><p>"Yeah, I know it's confusing, but all we have to focus on is getting out of here!" Snow argued. "We're not gonna do anyone any good if we're stuck in the past or some time-warp dimension! We're gonna have to time this perfectly," she then suggested. "First we're gonna have to find Sleeping Beauty and the twins, then we're gonna figure out a way to lure the mermen here, then we'll kill them, then hopefully the Gateway will open up, and we'll just jump through it!"</p><p>CRASH!</p><p>"What was that?" Snow asked as she flinched, though looked ready to fight.</p><p>"I don't know... But they're getting an arrow in their back..." Red glared as she hiked up her hood and readied her bow and arrows.</p><p>Red and Snow looked around darkly as they followed the source of the crash before they looked around a tree and looked up as a sneaker fell off and landed on the ground next to them.</p><p>"Heh... Hey, guys..." Cherry said nervously as she was at the top of the tree, latching onto it like a scared cat. "Nice day, huh?"</p><p>"Cherry!" exclaimed Red.</p><p>"Glad to see you," Snow replied. "But where are your friends?"</p><p>"...Long story." Cherry responded.</p><p>"Well, come on down!" Snow replied.</p><p>"I... I can't..." Cherry gulped.</p><p>"Why not?" Red asked.</p><p>"...I-I'm afraid of heights," Cherry shivered. "I-I'd love to climb down, but I don't know how to climb trees."</p><p>"It's always something, isn't it?" Snow remarked. "Just calm down and take it one branch at a time. The worst thing that can happen is that you fall on the branches on your way down."</p><p>"Wow! Thanks!" Cherry rolled her eyes before she bit her lip and stared at the lower branches as she slowly climbed down the tree.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, Cherry made her way to the ground.</p><p>"So what's the plan from here?" asked Snow.</p><p>"Simple," Cherry replied. "We stop Magda, get my friend Atticus back, and get you guys back to where you were before."</p><p>"Sounds easier said than done." Snow remarked.</p><p>"Yeah... That's the story of my life..." Cherry sweat-dropped.</p><p>A couple of guards were shown before Red sensed them and soon shot at them, but they weren't alone... Also there were Sleeping Beauty and the twins!</p><p>"Hey, there they are!" exclaimed Snow. "At least we found them..."</p><p>"Now's our chance!" Red called out as she ran with the group. "MOVE IT OR LOSE IT, SLEEPY!"</p><p>The Gateway soon opened up and the group disappeared out of the Enchanted Forest.</p><p>"Next adventure, I am <em>so</em> taking a break from portals..." Cherry glared before looking wide-eyed.</p><hr/><p>The city was soon shown to be in worse distress than usual with buildings on fire and damaged beyond repair.</p><p>"Ugh... Did Sabrina's nightmare just come true?" Cherry complained.</p><p>"Please tell me this wasn't part of your plan." Rosa said to Snow.</p><p>"No, no, no, no, NO!" Snow cried out. "We must've gone too far! I don't understand it! Is this where the mermen were coming from?!"</p><p>"You mean is this 'when' the mermen were coming from?" Rosa corrected.</p><p>"I guess Magda got what she wanted after all," Red groaned. "Sure looks like she made herself at home."</p><p>"Okay, we have to go back." Cherry replied.</p><p>"Maybe the King is around here somewhere." Jack said an emotionless voice.</p><p>"Maybe you're right." Snow nodded hopefully.</p><p>"So right place, wrong time." Rosa guessed.</p><p>"I've seen this in time travel movies and it almost never works out." Cherry shook her head, rolling her eyes.</p><p>"I'm willing to bet there's a way outta here," Snow said. "Looking Glass."</p><p>"That place again?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Think about it!" Snow told her firmly. "Where else are the mermen coming from if not here? Magda's probably been sending back for ages to kill us! There's still a chance."</p><p>"Yeah, if anyone isn't already dead." Red nodded gravely.</p><p>"There's only one way to find out," Snow said as she walked off, ahead of the others. "Come on, Jack. Come on, Jill."</p><p>The twins stared at her and soon followed behind after her.</p><p>"I hope this works," said Cherry. "Maybe if she's getting them from here, we can travel back to that day and make sure nothing worse happens."</p><p>And so, off to Looking Glass headquarters...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Doesn't seem to be up and running these days." Red commented as she opened the door and Rosa turned on the light.</p><p>"No kidding," Cherry said. "I'm ready to 'abandon hope all ye who enter here'."</p><p>"There has to be a way," Snow said as they began to uncover the old tools kept by Alice and the Hatter. "Magda might be crazy, but she wouldn't just destroy the Gateway now, would she?"</p><p>"I dunno, she seems pretty crazy if you ask me," Cherry shrugged before finding a white rabbit mask in a box. "...What the?"</p><p>"That's from Alice's favorite bar: Under the Rabbit Hole," Snow told Cherry. "It was the only time she could ever relax... Like one of our fallen princesses... <em>Beauty and the Bookstore</em>."</p><p>Cherry shrugged as she kept looking and helped them out.</p><p>"Wait!" Rosa panicked. "Does this mean we're stuck here?"</p><p>"I can't stay here!" Cherry replied. "I have to save my friends and shadow The Justice League!"</p><p>"I'd rather be back in the coffin." Rosa crossed her arms.</p><p>"What did Magda do to you?" Snow asked Jack and Jill as she tried to work on the computer before Cherry tried to work with it. "Did she hurt you?"</p><p>"She made us clean up after her and cook her meals like servant children," Jill said an emotionless voice. "She had big plans for The King, but we know he's better with you."</p><p>"We missed you so much," Jack added in the same tone. "She said if we didn't help, we'd be sent to The Gingerbread Witch."</p><p>"So what do we do?" Snow replied, sitting by as Cherry worked away at the computer. "If there's one thing I hate, it's not being able to do anything to help!"</p><p>"I-I-I'm not sure..." Cherry replied.</p><p>Snow soon slammed her hands on the desk as she cried in anguish. "<strong>HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!</strong>"</p><p>"I gave up." A voice said from right behind them.</p><p>The others soon turned around to see that it was Snow's Prince Charming.</p><p>"Charles..." Snow said softly as she hugged Jack and Jill at her sides.</p><p>Charles stumbled in before Snow and the twins rushed to him to help him.</p><p>"Oh, Charles... My charming..." Snow said softly as she cradled him.</p><p>"Don't... I'm so sorry, Snowy..." Charles said as he bowed his head in pain and depression. "I thought you died... And when the children went after her... I lost my will to fight her. I lost everything... After she took control, I-I..."</p><p>"My sweet... I just knew I'd see you again," Snow smiled sadly. "We can be a family now and adopt Jack and Jill like we've always wanted ever since Hope died."</p><p>"I'm so sorry things turned out the way they did," Charles reflected. "You'd been gone for so long... We lost hope you'd ever make it back. And now that you have... It's too late. She broke me, Snowy. After we... After she..."</p><p>Snow's lip quivered. "Hey... Hey, it's okay..."</p><p>"After she got my ring... She had no use for me anymore," said Charles. "And without my power, well, I'm not the man I used to be."</p><p>"I'll fix this, Charles... We'll fix this; we just have to get back to The Gateway..."</p><p>"YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T!" Charles shouted.</p><p>"I will," said Snow. "Oh, my darling... How long has it been?"</p><p>"...Too long." Charles replied.</p><p>"Tell me what's happened in all this time." Snow instructed.</p><p>Cherry sat by the computer, rubbing the back of her neck wearily.</p><p>"I'll show you," Charles said as he led Snow to a door and opened it as they came into a new room. "Once Magda gained control, it still wasn't enough for her."</p><p>The others soon followed Charles and Snow into the next room as he told them everything.</p><p>"She became paranoid, afraid that one day you'd come back," Charles continued. "For years, she sent mermen through the Gateway to find you. To kill you."</p><p>"We know how that turned out." Red smirked.</p><p>"Hey!" Cherry glanced. "Deadpan snarking is my territory."</p><p>"Sorry." Red shrugged as she rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Now she never leaves that throne room with her newest soldier who feels too young to not have a heart," Charles continued. "We found her as long as we could, but she controls all the land. I am the only one she can't command, and, well, am now an old man, and--"</p><p>"Uh... We?" Snow prompted. "<em>Who</em> we, Charles?"</p><p>"Who am <em>I</em>?" A weary old woman's voice spoke in the corner. "That is a great puzzle."</p><p>"I-Is that Alice?!" Cherry asked once she saw the old woman in the room who looked very confused.</p><p>"I think I once was..." replied Alice. "...But I must have changed several times since then."</p><p>"What <em>happened</em> to her?" asked Snow.</p><p>"I can't explain myself to you," said Alice. "Because I'm not myself."</p><p>Charles looked down sadly. "She's been this way ever since... Since forever."</p><p>"Sometimes, forever is just a second." Alice explained.</p><p>"...Great, she's talkin' like a fortune cookie." Cherry remarked.</p><p>"Alice?" asked Snow, getting close. "If you're in there... There's still hope. We just need to get back to before the wedding. Before all of this happened, we could stop it. Can you help us fix the Gateway? Can you send us back?"</p><p>"I can't go back to yesterday," said Alice. "I was a different person then."</p><p>Red rolled her eyes. "God, she's bonkers."</p><p>"The best people are," Alice replied. "You must be, too. Else you wouldn't have come here."</p><p>"She's finally cracked after her journey into Wonderland." Cherry commented.</p><p>"It's been that way since Hatter died," Charles replied. "He meant the world to her especially when they'd date at Under the Rabbit Hole."</p><p>"Okay, so Alice is nuts and Charming here is an old geezer, no offense," Rosa began. "So, what now?"</p><p>"Without my friends here, I'm not sure." Cherry said softly.</p><p>"We bring the fight back to Magda?" Red suggested.</p><p>"NO! Our battle is in the past!" Snow reminded.</p><p>"Uh, you mean the present." Rosa smirked.</p><p>"Watch it." Cherry glared.</p><p>"It's not here! It's not now!" Snow complained. "It doesn't do us or them any good to fight her here! We need to get back to before the wedding ever happened!"</p><p>"She's right... That's what started all of this!" Cherry realized.</p><p>"But Red is half right," Snow then said. "We are going to see Magda and that strong friend of yours who could probably as good as The Mighty Hercules. If Magda's been sending the mermen back all this time, she has a way to open The Gateway. So we get in, we figure out, and we get out, preferably unseen."</p><p>"Stealth, I can do." Red smirked.</p><p>"Great, I'll go organize my weapons your granny gave me." Cherry said as she left the room with her backpack.</p><p>Jack and Jill soon watched her leave and began to follow after Cherry.</p><p>"Don't take long!" Snow called out to Cherry before coming to her king. "Darling, can you show us the way?"</p><p>"No, the place is filled with mermen and I fear, I... I... I fear I wouldn't be good in this fight," Charles soon told Snow, giving her something. "Follow this path, but be careful, Snowy. If she hears you, she knows you're there, it will be too late. My ring, she commands anyone who hears her..."</p><p>Snow nodded as she understood.</p><p>"Now go." Charles then advised.</p><p>Snow got in a final look before she headed off.</p><hr/><p>Cherry organized her new weapons from Widow Perrault as Jack and Jill stared at her. "So, are you guys twins, or what?" she then asked.</p><p>"It's useless to turn against Magda," Jack glared suddenly. "She's playing you and your pathetic friends as suckerfish."</p><p>"Excuse me?!" Cherry glanced over.</p><p>"Yeah," Jill smirked. "So why don't you just go to a magic mirror portal and just surrender to her now before she comes into your world?"</p><p>"M-My friends and I are strong and brave!" Cherry glared, though she began to feel herself getting smaller. "You little punks don't know what you're talking about! Besides, I thought you were on our side!"</p><p>"Whose side is your side?" Jill smirked. "You don't even belong here. All of your friends do all the heavy lifting while you just stand there like the team mascot."</p><p>"You're pathetic!" Jack added.</p><p>"Hey, cut that out!" Rosa ordered as she came around.</p><p>"You're not our boss!" Jack sneered. "You just fell asleep because you poked a spinning wheel!"</p><p>"I beg your pardon?" Rosa glared.</p><p>"Some sacrifice!" Jill scoffed. "Happy 16th Birthday, Lazy Beauty."</p><p>"...You're not Jack and Jill." Rosa narrowed her eyes.</p><p>"Hey! What's with all the yelling?" Red glared.</p><p>"Oh, nothing that concerns you," Jill glared back as she grabbed Red's picnic basket. "You're not even a real princess."</p><p>"Who said <em>you</em> could be in the Grimm Avengers?" Jack added.</p><p>"What's going on in here?" Snow demanded.</p><p>"Oh, nothing~" Jack and Jill replied innocently with angelic golden halos above their heads.</p><p>Snow raised an eyebrow out of suspicion.</p><p>"Something happened," said Rosa. "Whoever these are, they're NOT the real Jack and Jill!"</p><p>"What are you talking about?" asked Snow.</p><p>"They must be clones or something!" Cherry replied. "Magda probably made them while she dealt with the real Jack and Jill by sending them to some kid-eating witch!"</p><p>Jack and Jill glared at Cherry.</p><p>"They were very rude to us," Red said to Snow. "Jack and Jill would never do something like that."</p><p>"...All right," Snow said before she grabbed the kids and pinned them to the wall. "You little skidmarks better start talking!"</p><p>"Snow... Mother... You don't think we would insult these good people, do you?" Jack asked cutely and innocently. "We just want you to take us back home and we can all live happily ever after."</p><p>"Yes, and especially with Prince Charming as our new father and we can live happily in your castle," Jill added. "You always said we were the children you guys had always wanted."</p><p>Snow glared. "I'm a little short on patience, and I don't have time for this crap," she growled through her teeth. "So if you have any confessions, speak up, cuz this is your only chance."</p><p>"Princess Snow, it's us!" Jack and Jill cried.</p><p>"<strong>LIARS!</strong>" Snow snapped as she made icicles from her hands and stabbed them into the kids' collars, pinning them to the wall and making them dangle. "Start talking... You are not Hope's children."</p><p>"Or what?" Jill narrowed her eyes.</p><p>"I'm gonna start making child-sized popsicles and don't think I won't," Snow glared as she made an iceball in her hand. "Who needs The Snow Queen on our team with ME around?" she then threw the iceball and the ice began to crackle from their toes and working its way up to their necks before stopping just below their chins.</p><p>Jack and Jill soon cried as they feared to freeze to death and nothingness.</p><p>"TALK!" Snow glowered.</p><p>"Okay! Okay!" Jack cried. "We're not who you think we are!"</p><p>"Yeah, no shit!" Cherry rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Who sent you and what are you up to?" Snow demanded.</p><p>"Magda had the real Jack and Jill in her dungeon," Jill began to confess. "A friend of hers was craving the company of children, so she took our DNA to trick you into letting us come with you to travel through time to save the king. We're not even real kids, we were just made from magic."</p><p>"Called it!" Cherry exclaimed. "...Huh. Feels weirdly good to say that."</p><p>"So now what do we do with these two phonies?" asked Rosa.</p><p>"I think they should stay here, chill out, and think about what they've done." Snow replied.</p><p>"You can't just leave two children here all alone!" Jill cried out.</p><p>"You're a terrible person!" Jack added.</p><p>"Relax, you won't be alone," Snow smirked. "You can spend some time with our old friend, Alice."</p><p>Jack and Jill gulped.</p><p>As the trio continued on their trek, a voice was heard in Cherry's head: "Tick-Tock, Cherry. The clock is running out... For you <em>and</em> your friends... So you'd better find that spell."</p><p>Cherry shuddered and walked a little faster.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, Rumple was shown to be cleaning up from where he was left, though Magda and her newest soldier, who was a heartless Atticus, glared in sheer disappointment and anger.</p><p>"Why aren't you in your cell?!" Magda glared at the impish man with a brainwashed Atticus beside her. "You know I don't like you skulking around at night. You already tried to betray me once! Sic him." she then prompted Atticus.</p><p>Atticus then grabbed and lifted Rumple up by his throat with a dead look in his eyes.</p><p>"Did you already forget?!" Magda continued to rant before lowering her left hand.</p><p>Atticus then slammed down Rumple to the floor.</p><p>"No! No, my Queen!" Rumple yelped as he backed up on the floor as Atticus snarled at him. "I just thought I could be out if I were cleaning--"</p><p>"You thought wrong." Magda glowered.</p><p>Atticus then narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles.</p><p>"I'm sorry!" Rumple cried fearfully. "It's just that--"</p><p>"Get back to your cell," Magda demanded. "Perhaps you would like Atticus to escort you."</p><p>"Please don't put me back!" Rumple begged.</p><p>"<strong>GET BACK IN YOUR CELL!</strong>" Magda ordered before nodding to Atticus.</p><p>The boy bowed, then took Rumple away as he was screaming. Magda nodded firmly as she removed Rumple's cleaning rag and soon tossed it out of her throne as she sat comfortably and firmly.</p><p>Rumple sighed as he sat his cell, surrounded by straw. "If only I could spin this straw into something more useful." he sighed to himself.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, the Grimm Avengers were on their way to the rescue.</p><p>"I'm coming, Atticus," Cherry said as they followed a trail of bread crumbs as they passed by a gingerbread house and she sniffed it and drooled slightly. "Ooh... I think I smell fudge in there..."</p><p>"Focus," Snow scolded Cherry as she grabbed the girl's face and made her look back over. "You have to save your friend and I have to save my future children. They could be anywhere."</p><p>Cherry gulped and nodded before they left the gingerbread house.</p><hr/><p>"I grow weary of you two," A crazy-haired blonde woman grinned darkly as she faced Jack and Jill, pounding a mallet into her hand. "I think I fancy myself a Kid's Meal made for two."</p><p>Jack and Jill glanced at each other and gulped, terrified.</p><p>"Say your prayers, children," Rosina grinned. "You're toast... Delicious, sweet, mouthwatering toast..."</p><p>Jack and Jill screamed as they held onto each other. Suddenly, the window crashed as a blonde girl swung in on a rope with a grin and soon knocked the witch down.</p><p>"AUGH! WHAT WAS <em>THAT</em>?!" Rosina glared as she fell on the floor before sniffing around. "I smell an intruder~"</p><p>"Get out of the way." The blonde girl told Jack and Jill.</p><p>The twins nodded and soon ducked out of the way.</p><p>"I smell another scrumptious child ripe for the pick--" Rosina grinned as she came towards the blonde girl.</p><p>"NOW, HANSEL!" The blonde girl called out.</p><p>"Burning witch in the hole!" A dark-haired boy smirked as he got on his hands and knees behind Rosina.</p><p>The blonde girl soon ran behind the witch and tripped her over the boy and made the witch scream and fall into her oven before the two soon slammed the oven door shut, cooking the witch inside and even locked it so that she couldn't get out.</p><p>"Whoa...!" Jack and Jill exclaimed.</p><p>"Now let's get you two outta here." said the girl as she and the boy got the children out of the gingerbread house.</p><p>"Thanks for saving us." said Jill.</p><p>"But who are you?" asked Jack.</p><p>"She's Gretel." The dark-haired boy said.</p><p>"And he's Hansel." The blonde girl added.</p><p>"Together we're..." The boy began.</p><p>"Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters!" The two then proclaimed together as they stood at each other's backs and crossed their arms.</p><p>"We've been dealing with that blind witch for months!" Gretel glared. "She killed our mother and even tried to marry our father, but we caught onto her plan and had been planning against her ever since."</p><p>"We also had to meet you two." Hansel added.</p><p>"Whatever for?" Jill asked.</p><p>"To join The Grimm Avengers," Gretel replied. "So we can help protect The Enchanted Forest, especially since you're the future children of Queen Snow White and King Charming."</p><p>"Then you can help us get back to Mother?" asked Jack.</p><p>"Consider it done, kiddos." smiled Hansel.</p><p>Jack and Jill smiled back hopefully.</p><p>"Now let's roll." Gretel glared.</p><p>Jack noticed a spellbook on the kitchen floor and picked it up as it seemed important and decided to hold onto it as he left with his sister and two new friends. The kids soon left the gingerbread house and went far into the forest as it was almost time to get to Magda's castle.</p><hr/><p>"There it is," Cherry glared as she peeked out from the bushes with Snow, Red, and Rosa. "The Sea Bitch's castle."</p><p>"I hope you're ready to fight," Snow told Cherry. "No more fun and games."</p><p>"I was born ready," Cherry nodded before narrowing her eyes. "I'm on my way back, Gold. You can give my friends their hearts back cuz I'm here to kick some tailfin and chew bubblegum."</p><p>"We'll see..." Gold replied in her mind, as the quartet headed towards the castle, ready to throw down.</p><p>Cherry shivered slightly as she felt her heart pounding. He knew how to put the fear of the deadline in her, but she wasn't going to give up.</p><p>They soon came into the castle and of course, had to deal with several mermen, but they were no match for Cherry and the combined efforts from the very pissed off and ambitious Grimm Avengers.</p><p>"Man, those guys were pretty easy to handle." Cherry remarked.</p><p>"Get mad enough, you can get things done," said Rosa. "Now to deal with Magda!"</p><p>"Right!" Cherry replied. "She could be anywhere."</p><hr/><p>They soon wandered around before they heard moaning and groaning somewhere. The girls looked around before they followed the sounds and fought more mermen on the way and they soon spotted Rumple.</p><p>"Rumple Shitstain." Cherry glared at the impish man.</p><p>"That's not how you say it, kid." Rumple retorted once his name was slandered.</p><p>"Huh? Wait!" Rumple soon exclaimed and noticed the Grimm Avengers were with her. "You're back!"</p><p>"Shh!" Red quickly shushed him.</p><p>"But you're back." Rumple said softly.</p><p>"Oh, we are not here to rescue you," Snow scoffed. "This is all your fault. You're lucky I won't kill you."</p><p>"Oh, sweet death..." said Rumple. "Wait. Then why are you here?"</p><p>"We need to get back to the past and fix YOUR mess," Snow remarked. "And you're gonna help us."</p><p>Rumple shook his head.</p><p>"How do we open the Gateway?" asked Rosa.</p><p>"No, no, no, no, the Queen won't like that," Rumple replied. "And neither will her bodyguard."</p><p>"Bodyguard?" asked Red.</p><p>"Brown-haired kid." Rumple replied. "Looked like the kinda guy you can depend on...not to mention crazy strong."</p><p>"...Atticus." Cherry realized.</p><p>"I don't <em>care</em> what they'll like." Snow scowled.</p><p>"<strong>NOOOOOO!</strong>" Rumple screeched.</p><p>"Shut him up or there's gonna be trouble!" Red grumbled.</p><p>"Come on, man, don't you wanna go back and fix your mistake?" Cherry begged.</p><p>"You don't understand!" Rumple cried out of fear and desperation. "The Queen... She's in my head! She controls everything!"</p><p>"You just tell me... Is there a way?" Snow demanded.</p><p>Rumple shook his head at first before he formed a smug snake-line grin on his face. "Yes~"</p><p>"You gonna tell us or what?" Cherry demanded as she raised her fist.</p><p>"Y-Y-Yes!" Rumple shivered as he flinched at her. "But she won't be happy," he then suddenly panicked. "No... No, no, no, you have to go or else!"</p><p>"Can you do something?" Snow asked Rosa.</p><p>"Yes, I was hoping you'd ask." Rosa replied before blowing magic in Rumple's face.</p><p>"Oh... Thank you..." Rumple said softly before he looked less tense now, but didn't fall asleep. "All this time, what have I done?"</p><p>"You can shut up now," Rosa replied as she sat next to him. "Do you know where the Gateway is? Do you know how to open it?"</p><p>Rumple was silent since he was told to shut up.</p><p>"You can speak now!" Rosa rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Yes... The power core." Rumple soon informed.</p><p>"Do you know how to get it?" asked Rosa.</p><p>Rumple nodded.</p><p>"Well, then go get it!" Rosa replied. "And don't get caught."</p><p>Rumple looked at the two women, then got up, and headed on down the hallway.</p><p>"Men." Cherry rolled her eyes.</p><p>A dark shadow soon came up behind her and grabbed onto Cherry, pulling her back instantly.</p><p>"Yaugh!" Cherry yelped as she ended up in a different room and fell on her knees before looking up.</p><hr/><p>Atticus glared down at her, his sapphire eyes piercing into her chocolate eyes.</p><p>"Atticus... This isn't like you..." Cherry said softly. "You have to know me... I'm your best friend."</p><p>"I obey Queen Magda." Atticus sneered as he looked ready to beat her up despite her being a girl and his oldest friend.</p><p>Cherry gulped, fearing getting beaten to a pulp, but also about fighting him. "This is gonna be the hardest fight of my life..." she then said as she stood up and got into a fighting stance.</p><p>Atticus soon lunged out for Cherry and the two began to fight each other, with fists and feet. Cherry even got bruised a bit and even had a bloody nose and lost a tooth, shattering her glasses as she put up with the pain.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>MEANWHILE...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"You know what the worst part of this is?" asked Lionel.</p><p>"The fact our hearts have been ripped out?" replied Sabrina.</p><p>"Yeah, that is pretty bad," Lionel nodded. "...Well, the third-worst part is that we've been basically sidelined again. Our lives are in danger, and we can't even do a blasted thing about it! Besides, we barely know that Gold guy! How do we even know he's gonna keep his end of the bargain if Cherry succeeds?"</p><p>"I... Guess we don't..." Thor shrugged, though still in a gloomy tone of voice.</p><p>Mr. Gold sighed a bit mournfully in the corner as he stroked a framed photograph, smiling sadly at the woman in the image.</p><p>"What're you saying, Lionel?" Mo asked. "We try to find a way out of here before our goose gets cooked?"</p><p>"I wish," Lionel replied. "But big shot over there would most likely crush our hearts into powder if we tried. So long story short, we're basically the damsels-in-distress, waiting to be saved."</p><p>"The hope I have left in my soul wishes that Cherry gets back sooner." Thor said.</p><p>"Who knows how much time we might have left until she gets back?" Mo asked.</p><p>"I've waited centuries to get my family back," Mr. Gold said as he sat in front of them as he brought out an hourglass with some magic and slammed it onto the table as it began to pour. "You can wait until at least sunrise tomorrow."</p><p>"Cherry, please hurry," Sabrina begged. "I'll be your best friend forever if you get us out of this!"</p><p>"Look, I'm not gonna say I understand what it's like losing a family because I've never even <em>had</em> one," Lionel explained. "But at least think about this: what will they think of you when they learn what you did to get them back? ...And why am I even trying to reason with you, you don't care."</p><p>"I know, I probably deserve the worst punishment in the Underworld by The Devil himself," Mr. Gold said softly as he looked Lionel dead in the eyes. "Especially if I fail to ascend to the test."</p><p>"Test?" Thor asked. "What test?"</p><p>"Every soul goes straight to the Underworld and has a chance to tend to their unfinished business," Mr. Gold explained. "If they pass their test, they can go straight into Heaven with their biggest wishes and desires to come true, but if they fail to finish their unfinished business... They taste the fires of Hell and are doomed to an even worse fate than what Hades can make them endure during the Underworld. I probably deserve the flames, but your hearts are what I need to see my family, unless somehow, the Elements are recreated and you embody the Elements of Comedy, Bravery, Magic, Strength, Empathy, and Friendship. I cannot go into the magical world of Equestria and obtain such elements, especially since my heart is as black as Peter Pan's shadow, so your hearts are the best chance I have, if your friend returns before the final grain of sand falls."</p><p>Lionel snorted, turning away angrily. "So we have to die so your family can live again..."</p><p>"I didn't say it would be easy." Mr. Gold replied.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Back with the Grimm Avengers...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Cherry was getting the crap beaten out of her as she slid across the floor and hit the throne. She then looked up to see a jar with a beating heart inside of it. "That must be Atticus's heart..." she said weakly and wearily.</p><p>Atticus soon stomped towards Cherry as he cracked his neck, giving her the biggest and harshest death glare anyone could see, almost like something out of the ultimate showdown in The WWE. Cherry whimpered a bit, from the pain and fear as she wobbled a bit and soon grabbed the jar and began to crack it against the throne, sweating anxiously as Atticus got closer and closer. Atticus soon grabbed Cherry by her feet and began to drag her back over to him and soon held her upright and took off flying with her, crashing through the castle, flying higher and higher in the air. Cherry panicked as she nearly dropped and slipped the heart from her hands as the jar fell from her hands as it beat and glowed in her hands, vibrating up against them. Atticus then began to hold Cherry out by her left arm and began to let go, finger-by-finger while growling.</p><p>"This is gonna sound so cheesy and lame..." Cherry groaned to herself as she held his heart high in the air before she yelled and her voice echoed. "<strong>BY THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!</strong>" she soon announced and shoved the heart right back into Atticus's chest, putting it back into place as he slowly regained his natural color.</p><p>Atticus groaned at first and covered his eyes with both of his hands as he slowly turned back to normal. Cherry soon screamed as she fell through the air and was about to fall and possibly die prematurely.</p><p>"I gotcha!" A voice called as Cherry suddenly felt herself being yanked out of the air.</p><p>Cherry opened her eyes to see that Atticus was now holding her up.</p><p>"Did I miss anything?" he asked.</p><p>Cherry gave her usual deadpan smirk, but there was a bit more joy behind it. "Welcome back... You jerk." she replied.</p><p>"You're welcome, Princess Pain in the Butt." Atticus smirked back before he flew down and they went back in the throne room of the castle before he rubbed his eyes.</p><p>Cherry soon stood up away from his arms and narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't scared." she then said flatly.</p><p>"What just happened?" Atticus asked before using his healing powers to remove her bruises and scars.</p><p>"It's a long story," Cherry sighed before taking a deep breath and told him about everything up until now as fast as she could, her voice speeding up quicker and quicker after every three words like she was being fast-forwarded beyond her control before she spoke again at normal speed and sighed. "So... There ya... Go..."</p><p>"Mr. Gold wants our hearts?" Atticus replied. "That's pretty messed up."</p><p>"Mm-hmm..." Cherry nodded.</p><p>"If only there was a way to give him what he wants without having to sacrifice our hearts." Atticus sighed and shook his head.</p><p>"Beats me," Cherry shrugged. "I don't own a spellbook."</p><p>"You guys need some help?" asked Hansel as he and Gretel came into the room with Jack and Jill.</p><p>"Wait a second, who are you guys?" asked Atticus.</p><p>"And how do we know <em>these</em> are the real Jack and Jill?" added Cherry, squinting.</p><p>"Magda sent us to The Blind Gingerbread Witch," Jack frowned. "She made us eat incredible food, but only to fatten us up with."</p><p>"Really, it's the truth!" Jill added.</p><p>Cherry crossed her arms in doubt before her eyes went wide as Jack and Jill began to turn into different animals. "Hmm... I'm still not sure," she then said. "I guess maybe Snow White would be able to tell the difference."</p><p>"Evil clones?" Atticus guessed.</p><p>"At least before Snow frosted them." Cherry smirked.</p><p>"Fine, we can wait for them." Hansel replied.</p><p>"Ugh! How are we gonna give Gold what he wants without having to sacrifice our hearts?" Atticus complained to himself.</p><p>Cherry rolled her eyes, though this was serious, he was being a bit melodramatic about the situation.</p><p>"The Gateway's almost ready!" Red said as she suddenly ran by.</p><p>"Great!" Cherry replied. "Also, could we get Snow over here? We kinda got a situation."</p><p>Hansel and Gretel pointed to Jack and Jill, who waved.</p><p>"Snow!" Red called out. "The emo kid wants you!"</p><p>Cherry looked wide-eyed and offended.</p><p>Red then kept going to where she wanted to go.</p><p>"D-Did she just call me 'emo'?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Let it go, Cherry." Atticus advised.</p><p>Snow soon stalked over and glared right at Jack and Jill. "All right... If you're really Jack and Jill, prove it," she then demanded, crossing her arms. "Where are your parents?"</p><p>"We never had parents," Jill frowned in pain. "We want you and King Charles to raise us."</p><p>"We never knew our father and Rumplestiltskin got rid of our mother," Jack added. "At least that's what we believed in."</p><p>Snow soon looked tearful, kneeling down and suddenly hugging the orphaned twins. "My children!" she then cried happily.</p><p>"We missed you so much!" Jack and Jill exclaimed as they hugged their adoptive mother.</p><p>"Alright, you guys can hug it out later!" Atticus replied. "Much as I enjoy reunions, we should get going, and FAST!"</p><p>"Right!" Jack and Jill replied.</p><p>They soon took off and they just now had to wait for Rumple which took quite a while.</p><p>"So, do you think we could join the Avengers Grimm?" Hansel asked. "We're professional witch hunters these days."</p><p>"I just hope not all witches," Atticus replied. "We have a friend who's a witch."</p><p>"Well, if she's a good witch, you have nothing to worry about." Gretel promised with a smile.</p><p>Atticus smiled back at that. Cherry began to look as calm as possible before her eyes widened.</p><p>"Time's running out, Cherry~..." Gold's voice said in her head. "My hourglass still has a while to go before sunrise in your home... But who knows if you'll have enough time to free your friends then?~"</p><p>"Shut up! Shut up!" Cherry cried out as she clamped her hands over her ears.</p><p>"We better get going," said Atticus. "To the Gateway... Whatever that is!"</p><p>"We have to wait for Rumplestiltskin." Red told him.</p><p>Atticus nodded as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot.</p><p>Snow was the most impatient. "He's taking too long!" she then snapped, tossing something in the moat.</p><p>"Time for Plan B?" Red guessed.</p><p>"My magic will wear off soon!" Rosa cried.</p><p>"Mr. Gold's gonna make my friends into a pile of dust." Cherry gulped sickly.</p><p>Rumple soon finally came back with what they needed.</p><p>"Oh! Thank you!" Snow said as she took it and went to get ready.</p><p>"Uh, what about-" Cherry began.</p><p>"What <em>about</em> him?" Snow rolled her eyes. "Leave him!"</p><p>"We could kill him," suggested Red. "...Just a thought."</p><p>"Let him suffer here," retorted Snow. "For as long as here exists."</p><p>Rosa and Red looked at each other, then kept on moving with Snow and the others. Rumple watched them go before getting a sick feeling in his head.</p><p><strong><em>"RUMPELSTILTSKIN!"</em> </strong>ordered Magda telepathically.</p><p>Rumple clutched the sides of his head. "No, no, no, no...!"</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>"COME HERE AT ONCE!"</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Rumple gulped nervously. "C-Coming, my queen!" he replied as he ran off.</p><p>"Poor guy." Jack commented.</p><p>"Eh, not a very big loss." Cherry shrugged as they ran off the other way.</p><hr/><p>They soon made it at the doors of Looking Glass Headquarters.</p><p>"Open the outside doors, Hatter!" Cherry called out.</p><p>"I'm sorry, but I can't let you guys do that." The Hatter retorted.</p><p>"And why ever not?" Cherry glared.</p><p>"How do I know you're really you?" The Hatter snorted as he sat back in his chair.</p><p>"Open up these doors before I teleport in there and rip out your tea-loving, mad hatted, hedgehog croquet playing BRAIN!" Cherry threatened.</p><p>"Touchy..." The Hatter tutted before unlocking and opening the doors. "You're lucky Alice is here too."</p><p>Cherry rolled her eyes as she and the others went inside.</p><hr/><p>Eventually, Alice was working on the computers while The Hatter took a tea break. "All right... Coordinates are calibrated. Everything is far as I can surmise," The curious woman reported as she finished up her job. "We just need the power core and then we ought to be able to send the girls back just before the wedding."</p><p>The Grimm Avengers soon came in through the door with two members of the Toon Force.</p><p>"Then fire it up." Snow said as she tossed the device over to the curious girl.</p><p>"Ooh! That was careless!" Alice cried as she luckily caught it.</p><p>"I thought you were nuts." Red teased.</p><p>"Never proved any harm before," Alice retorted as she readied the power core into The Gateway. "In fact, I think it's quite the asset more oft than not. At least we're not dealing with The Red Queen."</p><p>"Well, uh, whatya think?" Cherry asked frantically. "Can you send us back?"</p><p>"Oh, yes, but with hardly time to spare," Alice replied. "We just need it to warm up as it were," she then looked back at them. "Ladies? Gentlemen? Take your places."</p><p>"Sweet! We're outta here." Cherry nodded eagerly.</p><p>"Snow..."</p><p>"Charles?"</p><p>"I never thought I'd see you again." Charles told his lover. "Now that you have to leave so soon, I... I don't think I can bear it."</p><p>Snow took him by the shoulder. "Charles... I promise you; when we're finished, we'll never have to live this life because you'll have lived a better life with me." she told him.</p><p>"Aww." Atticus smiled at the sweet and tender moment.</p><p>"I'm sure that'll be you and Mo soon." Cherry rolled her eyes.</p><p>"And we'll become parents," Snow smiled as she gestured to Jack and Jill. "We're all going to live happily ever after together."</p><p>Jack and Jill looked very excited about that news.</p><p>"Let's give it a shot!" Alice said as she soon pushed the buttons as Charles left the room. However, she was suddenly shot at and vaporized from existence, making the others look wide-eyed and horrified.</p><p>"Oh..." Magda cooed before smiling darkly as she held her trident. "Did you not mean me?"</p><p>Snow gritted her teeth. "...Magda!"</p><p>Magda had one of her guards hand her a leash, and she dragged Rumple in by it. "When my little Rumple told me what you made him do... I had to get involved." she explained smugly.</p><p>"I didn't realize you were into <em>that</em> sort of thing." Cherry remarked.</p><p>"I told you we should've killed him." Red complained firmly to Snow.</p><p>"It's what I would've done," Magda agreed slimily. "In fact..." she then got ready to stab Rumple with her trident.</p><p>"DON'T!" Atticus cried out.</p><p>"I see you got your heart back, my brave little soldier," Magda smirked. "Pity... I would've loved to had seen your Aunt Athena's face of seeing her favorite nephew betraying her like the way you did."</p><p>Atticus narrowed his eyes with a low growl. Magda then shot at Rumple, bringing him a great deal of pain.</p><p>"But... My Queen... Why...?" The impish man cried.</p><p>"I got bored," Magda taunted before she knocked him over on the floor and grinned at the Grimm Avengers. "And now I have new playthings. Oh, the fun we will have!" she said as she circled them as they tried to stay brave. "If only that powerful warlock were here... That would be oodles of fun." she then mocked Cherry and Atticus.</p><p>"Don't think that I won't hurt a lady because I think I can make an exception for villains." Atticus glared.</p><p>"Guys, we <em>have</em> to go!" Cherry exclaimed. "We're running out of time!"</p><p>"How funny," Magda smirked. "Not even an official Grimm Avenger and you think you can take me down with them."</p><p>"I may not be an official member of the Grimm Avengers, but I'm gonna help them and they've helped me and the Justice League before," Cherry glared. "I'm not scared of you, Fish Bitch."</p><p>"Perhaps I will let you use the Gateway," Magda smirked mockingly. "The Ice Age sounds nice. I'm sure you would feel right at home there, wouldn't you, Snow? Especially if Gerda could be in your little team."</p><p>"Listen to yourself," Snow sneered. "Look around you! Is this what you wanted? A crumbling kingdom?! Nothing but brainwashed subjects to do your bidding? They don't follow out of love!" she continued as Rumple began to crawl away. "You didn't earn any of this!"</p><p>"Oh, but I <em>did</em>," Magda replied. "The sheer lengths I went through in capturing your Charming... The long and agonizing years I spent, twisting him this way and that; oh, no, this... This has been a long time coming. And now, I have everything I've ever wanted."</p><p>"...But are you <em>happy</em>?" Snow asked.</p><p>"I'm about to be." Magda replied with a Libby Chessler-esque smirk.</p><p>Cherry looked wide-eyed at the smirk before narrowing her eyes with a growl as she looked beyond pissed off as the smirk reminded her of someone she always wanted to punch right on the spot.</p><p>"You should know that goodness always wins and evilness does not." Atticus glared.</p><p>"Spoken like the nephew of the little mermaid who got away," Magda rolled her eyes. "Such a shame... You had quite the brute strength in you, you'd be great for The Dark Side."</p><p>Rumple soon stumbled into the older Charles who looked down at him.</p><p>"You had your chance to be a hero and you chose villainy," The older king said to him. "Now you've got another chance."</p><p>Rumple wiped his mouth before looking up at the other man.</p><p>"I really can't believe it," Magda scoffed at the team in front of her. "After all this time, you show up now, when you have no chance of stopping me, just like Lacey Gold was unable to save herself and her children while Dear Old Hubby was away at war." she then said with a laugh.</p><p>"Y-You knew <em>Mrs</em>. Gold?" Cherry muttered at that.</p><p>"Maybe I have and maybe I'm the reason she and her precious children are dead," Magda continued with a smirk. "Oh, I wish Charles were here to see this."</p><p>"Be careful what you wish for, Magda." said Charles as he stepped into the room.</p><p>"Charles~" Magda smirked. "How long has it been since the wedding?"</p><p>"Too long," Charles replied. "Your reign of terror ends today."</p><p>"I know I can't tell you what to do," said Magda. "But I'd really rather not kill an old man."</p><p>"I'd sooner die than stomach another day with you," Charles glared.</p><p>"If you say so," Magda replied as she began zapping him with her trident.</p><p>Charles strained against the massive pain he was experiencing. "Now, Rupert...!"</p><p>Rumple got to his feet, thanks to the control panel.</p><p>"Send... Them... Back!" Charles grunted.</p><p>"NO!" Magda yelled.</p><p>"Goodbye, Charles..." Snow said sadly as her love was vaporized.</p><p>Rumple pressed a button on the panel, activating the Gateway and pulling the group into the vortex as Cherry stuck up her middle fingers at Magda one last time. The portal then disappeared as they had another chance to save everybody in The Fairy Tale Realm.</p><hr/><p>At the castle, Charles was forced into a groom tux as well as handcuffs and was being moved by the guards as Magda grinned at him.</p><p>"Charles, you made it... And you look so handsome." The evil woman beamed as she stroked the man's cheek.</p><p>"What now?" Charles scoffed. "We say our vows?"</p><p>"Something like that..." Magda smirked before signaling another guard.</p><p>The merman soon came into the room with a hostage before forcing her to the floor and removed the bag on her head to reveal none other than Snow White herself.</p><p>"Be a good prince and marry me, NOW," Magda demanded to Charles as she set the ring down as it glowed. "Or I vow to kill her."</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>MEANWHILE...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Alice suddenly shot awake. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed, before feeling her face. "Oh... Thank heavens."</p><p>"Did you find them...?" asked Hatter, half-asleep.</p><p>Alice went over to her computer. "Yes and no." she replied, picking something up.</p><p>"What now then?"</p><p>"Well..." Alice replied, taking a red pill. "I've got a wedding to crash." She swallowed it and began to grow to the size of a skyscraper.</p><hr/><p>Outside the castle, Cherry and Atticus soon landed together as Cherry still had the Blind Gingerbread Witch's spellbook.</p><p>"Did we make it?" Atticus asked Cherry.</p><p>"I... I think so," Cherry said softly before sitting up and rubbing her head. "I just realized something though... It's also Magda's fault that Mr. Gold lost his family."</p><p>"Yeah?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"Yeah... He blamed Drell..." Cherry nodded. "I doubt he'll listen to me, but I also found this," she then said as she opened up the spellbook. "It's a recipe for making all of the Elements into some sort of potion so Gold doesn't have to take everyone's hearts! I gotta get back to town before it's too late! Who knows how much time has passed?!"</p><p>"Then we'll have to make sure Magda is defeated and Snow White and Prince Charming get married before then." Atticus narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"I sure hope so," Cherry gulped and looked very sad and fearful. "Oh, Lionel... Oh, Thor..."</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, Mr. Gold appeared to be adding more sand in the hourglass when no one was watching, though he still looked firm and cold with the captured Toon Force.</p><p>"Man, those guys better get back here..." Lionel grumbled as he laid on his side.</p><p>"They will... Or maybe they won't... Who even knows anymore?" Thor droned, sounding lower than Cherry on a regular basis.</p><p>"I should've gone to the other universe when I had the chance." Sabrina said sickly.</p><p>Mr. Gold just stared at them as he kept the hourglass close beside him as he kept an eye on all of them.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Back in the Fairy Tale Realm...</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>"Motivate him!" Magda commanded.</p><p>A merman soon held his spear's handle against Snow's throat to choke her.</p><p>"WAIT! Wait! Wait!" Charles cried. "If I marry you, promise to let her live..." he said softly, though a bit dark in tone as a warning.</p><p>The moment was tense as Snow feared for her king and for her life as all she could do was sit there.</p><p>"If you're a good boy." Magda decided.</p><p>Cherry and Atticus sat together until they heard stomping coming their way.</p><p>"RUN! IT'S GODZILLA!" Cherry called out.</p><p>"What is this, <em>Pooh's Adventures</em>?" asked Atticus.</p><hr/><p>Just then, a guard stumbled in, with an arrow in his back; right behind him were Red, Snow, and Rosa... Along with the others.</p><p>"Snowy!" Charles exclaimed before glancing off to the side. "...Snowy."</p><p>"Get your scaly ass away from my man!" Snow announced.</p><p>"Kill them!" Magda ordered.</p><p>Future Snow soon came toward Magda and grabbed the evil woman's trident.</p><p>"You don't deserve him!" Magda whined like a teenage girl.</p><p>"'FAIREST IN ALL THE LAND'!" Future Snow argued.</p><p>The other mermen went to take care of the rest of the group who fought back instantly, including with Hansel and Gretel's help.</p><p>Charles even found the strength and courage to fight back against the merman who held onto him as Jack and Jill smiled at him. "My children!" he then said to the twins before hugging them instantly.</p><p>"He's marrying <em>me</em>!" Magda sneered at Future Snow.</p><p>Future Snow growled as she was about to punch Magda until Atticus and Cherry literally dropped in and landed on top of Magda, knocking her out instantly.</p><p>"Whoo!" Atticus cheered.</p><p>"You guys okay?" Cherry asked the Grimm Avengers.</p><p>"We're fine, but where did you come from?" Red asked.</p><p>"I think Alice ate a mushroom or a cookie or whatever makes you grow big in Wonderland, 'cuz we got separated and she found us on her way over and dropped us off." Cherry explained.</p><p>"Uh... Okay," Red replied. "Either way, time to fix everything!"</p><p>"Let's get kicking then!" Cherry glared. "Let it all out, Avengers Grimm! Or whatever your hero team name is!"</p><p>"Allow us to help out, new friends." Gretel said to Jack and Jill.</p><p>"We'd be insulted if you didn't!" Jack and Jill smiled.</p><p>"Come on, Chuck!" Future Snow told her prince. "Do it NOW!"</p><p>Charles blinked in realization. Clearly, something wasn't right here. "Chuck?"</p><p>Snow tackled her doppelgänger. "It's me, Charles! We have to hurry!" she exclaimed.</p><p>Snow's look-alike glared. "Don't listen to her! That's Rumpelstiltskin!" she replied.</p><p>Snow rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of..." she then went over and kissed Charles passionately.</p><p>"Snowy..." Charles smiled before the imp showed his true form. "Rupert?"</p><p>"Rupert?" Cherry scoffed. "No, that's that baby stealing imp! ...Or whatever he does in this realm. I've faced him before."</p><p>"Oh, now, Chuckie, I can explain," Rumple said nervously as he put his hands up and he began to back up. "It's funny, I actually don't-"</p><p>Charles soon interrupted him with a fist to the cheek as he was very angry.</p><p>"Now, let's hope your aunts are okay." Snow said to Jack and Jill.</p><p>"Aunts?" The twins asked.</p><p>"Of course," Snow smiled. "Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Red, and Rapunzel are my best friends. They shall be your godaunts in our family and once we round up the dwarves, they'll be your uncles."</p><p>Charles grabbed the ring and got on one knee. "Will you marry me?"</p><p>Snow smirked. "It's about time." she replied as she put out her hand.</p><p>Before they could slip it on, Magda got to her feet. "Get away from him!" she scowled as she blasted the both of them apart.</p><p>"Aw, come on!" Atticus complained. "How are you not dead yet?!"</p><p>"Mother! Father!" Jack and Jill cried for Snow and Charles.</p><p>The two saw that they could still do what they had to do before they began to dive and slide across the floor with their hands spread out so it would be easier to get the ring on. Luckily, that worked just as well and the ring was soon placed on Snow's finger, thus resulting in the defeat of Magda.</p><p>"NO!" Magda snarled as she pulled Charles with her trident, dragging him like a ragdoll. "IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU, NO ONE CAN!"</p><p>"Stronger than you look!" Charles glared bravely.</p><p>"Fight me or die!" Magda challenged.</p><p>"I can't hit a woman!" Charles protested.</p><p>Snow soon grabbed the woman's trident in victory. "I can!" she then told her before punching her in the face, sending her right on the floor, a few inches away.</p><p>Magda stumbled to her feet. "Destroy the city! Leave <em>nothing</em> standing!" she demanded.</p><hr/><p>Outside, Mega-Alice spotted Rumple making a run for it and threw him effortlessly into the ocean.</p><p>"Mermen are drying up, Fish Face!" smirked Red.</p><p>"If I were you, I'd quit." added Rosa.</p><p>Snow stepped up and pointed the trident. "Now get the hell off my land." she then demanded.</p><p>"Wasn't there a thing you needed this for?" Hansel asked Cherry, holding the spellbook.</p><p>Cherry swiped it while panting heavily.</p><p>"...You're welcome." Hansel narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"Sorry," Cherry said. "I just need this to save my friends before our evil substitute teacher takes my friends' hearts."</p><p>"I'd say that sounds crazy, but my sister and I have been fighting a blind witch who made a candy house from magic," Hansel said. "So I wish you luck on your quest."</p><p>"I sure hope so," Cherry nodded as she tried to flip through the page she had found before. "Hopefully Gold will accept this potion and let us go free."</p><p>"Alright, good luck, guys!" Snow replied as Cherry flipped through the book.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>MEANWHILE...</em>
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</p><p>Lionel, Mo, Sabrina and Thor were pretty much out of hope. Thor was playing the harmonica.</p><p>"Swing low... Sweet cha-riot, Coming for to carry me hoooome~..." Lionel droned as he gazed on while Mr. Gold kept on watching the hourglass.</p><p>Mr. Gold crossed his arms a bit. "Well, I really had faith in your friend, but it seems to me that time might be just about--" he then began. There was then a rumbling sound heard and soon, Atticus and Cherry came out from a magic mirror and landed on top of each other with a flask, wobbling and shaking the table.</p><p>"Cherry! Atticus!" The Toon Force called in relief.</p><p>"Just as there's one more grain of sand..." Mr. Gold remarked. "I'm very impressed, Miss Butler."</p><p>Cherry panted heavily as she approached him, wobbling a bit and held out a flask. "Elemental... Potion... For... You..." she then panted heavily. "Should... Allow you... To... Have lightness... In your heart..."</p><p>"I must say, I really am impressed," Mr. Gold admitted as he accepted the flask. "How did you figure out such a spell?"</p><p>"Found a... Spellbook..." Cherry panted, looking very exhausted. "From Hansel... And Gretel... Leave my... Friends alone... You... Doof."</p><p>Mr. Gold opened up the flask as colorful flashes almost as colorful as a rainbow shined out. He soon glanced to the side as he heard an angelic choir as he looked out into the sky to see the fluffy clouds in the air.</p><p>"Do we... Have... A deal?" Cherry begged. "I can't live without my friends... I'm sorry about your family... And what you're doing to my friends is stupid... But please... I can't live without them like you can't live without your family... Just please... Don't hurt them... We made a deal and a promise... Just... Please don't take them... I'd feel a worse pain than you feel for Lacey... Or Rose... And Baelfire... Just please, Mr. Gold... PLEASE!" she then said as tears streamed down her face, showing a side of her that not many ever had a chance to ever see.</p><p>"...I am a man of my word..." Mr. Gold had to admit before he removed a tarp over a collection of jars with multicolored hearts and removed the lids on each jar and the hearts began to levitate as he held his hand up in the air to levitate the hearts and he soon threw them to the side and soon, the Toon Force's hearts were returned right into their chests.</p><p>"Hey! We're back to normal!" Lionel exclaimed. "GET HIM!" And he lunged at Mr. Gold and began beating him up in a fit of rage.</p><p>Mr. Gold didn't even fight back and just accepted his fate.</p><p>"How do we give Drell his heart back?" Cherry asked the fallen man, crawling over to him on the floor, kneeling beside him as Lionel paused for a moment.</p><p>"Just push it back in his chest until you hear a loud CRUNCH," Mr. Gold advised as he demonstrated with his free hand. "You all have some sort of magic deep within you, so you should be able to succeed."</p><p>"Thank you, Mr. Gold," Cherry bowed her head. "I hope you see your family again. I'm sorry you just have to go through a beating just to let it happen."</p><p>"I deserve it," Mr. Gold replied softly. "All right, young man, you can continue. Just let me drink that potion once you're done and I have one more request after that."</p><p>"Hmph... Well, okay," Lionel replied as he continued. "Personally, I appreciate you being such a good sport about all this. I don't hold it against you, but you <em>did</em> do those things, and you've got to pay somehow. Besides, I barely did anything in this story, so may as well do all this!"</p><p>"I understand..." Mr. Gold said. "...What story?" he then asked out of confusion.</p><p>"Never mind that," Thor replied. "We're sorry we have to hurt you though."</p><p>"Yes, yes, I understand..." Mr. Gold nodded. "Not too much now, I still need the potion."</p><p>Eventually, Lionel stopped and Mr. Gold took the flask from Cherry.</p><p>"Cherry... I want you to take out my heart after I finish drinking this if Lionel's done beating me to a pulp." Mr. Gold requested.</p><p>"T-Take out your heart?" Cherry asked.</p><p>"Yes... You <em>have</em> to..." Mr. Gold urged. "I always knew there was something special about you, so you have to do it."</p><p>Cherry gulped, though a bit calm compared to how she felt about him recently. "Y-Yes, sir..." she then nodded.</p><p>Lionel finally stopped after a good while. "Alright, I got all my frustration and anger out," he sighed, taking a drink of water. "Now I'm just glad you're back!~" he gushed, hugging Cherry from behind.</p><p>"Oof!" Cherry yelped from surprise in the hug.</p><p>Thor beamed as he hugged Cherry at her front, lifting both her and Lionel off of the floor. Atticus and Mo smiled as they kissed each other and reunited. Sabrina watched this happen and bowed her head as she felt left out. Not just from the hugs and kisses, but in this whole universe as a whole. Perhaps Drell was right. Cherry then gave Mr. Gold the flask and he drank it as he glowed like a rainbow briefly and finished the potion down to the last drop.</p><p>"Now what?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"I want Cherry to take my heart out." Mr. Gold demanded.</p><p>Cherry soon gulped before approaching the older man and squashed her hands in through his chest and soon grabbed his heart right out as it was beating and glowing from the Elements of Harmony, though there was still blackness in it from the dark and gloomy past he had endured for centuries.</p><p>"I don't expect any of you to forgive me... But I do apologize for my rash actions..." Mr. Gold said, sounding weaker now since his heart was missing. "I was horrible... I tricked you... Deceived you... I don't deserve any forgiveness from either of you... I even doubt that I'll end up in Heaven and Hades will just pull me straight down into Hell... But I really am sorry that I tried to take your hearts for my own selfish gain and holding a feud to Drell..." he then took out a golden box and opened it up to reveal another heart. "This is Drell's heart. Give it to him. Tell him what I just told you."</p><p>"You can't tell him yourself?" Sabrina asked.</p><p>"No, because I won't be around much longer," Mr. Gold replied. "Cherry, I want you to crush my heart into dust."</p><p>"Wh-What?!" Cherry yelped. "I-I can't do that!"</p><p>"You have to, I chose you and I hurt you the most," Mr. Gold urged. "Do it... Get it over with."</p><p>Cherry held onto his heart and began to squeeze on it as he began to groan from the pain. She felt very bad for him, but she soon dropped his heart and stomped on top of it and crushed it into dust.</p><p>"The deed... Is done... I'm coming home, Lacey..." Mr. Gold spoke with one last dying gasp and he soon collapsed to the floor with his eyes shut.</p><p>Lionel bowed his head in respect. "Fare thee well. You were a truly difficult opponent, but in the end, you had some sense of honor." he said quietly.</p><p>Cherry wiped her eyes a bit as tears formed in her eyes. She then restored the magic from the Elements of Harmony that she and her friends were born with and they were all good and back to normal.</p><p>"Cherry, you okay?" Thor asked. "We won?"</p><p>"I know he was corrupted, but... He was a great teacher... He was horrible to us... Though I feel a little bad for him," Cherry said softly. "I feel kinda... Funny."</p><p>"That must be your empathy," Mo replied. "It's okay to feel sorry for him."</p><p>"I just hope he made it back to Mrs. Gold..." Cherry said softly as she looked down at the currently dead man. "I'm sorry we had to do this to you... I just hope you live happily ever after... Go find your happy ending."</p><hr/><p>Eventually, everything became dark as Mr. Gold was shown to be in very old-fashioned looking clothes from The Middle Ages as he entered some sort of plane of existence with foggy clouds all around as he looked around and seemed to be on his own for a while.</p><p>"Cedric~..." A melodic voice called to him.</p><p>Mr. Gold turned around as he saw a light shining down on a beautiful brunette woman with happy tears in her eyes. It was his Lost Lenore... His dearly beloved... His eternal soulmate... Lacey was her name. The two soon stepped in front of each other before sharing a warm and happy true love's kiss before hugging each other and he stroked her hair as he smiled tearfully.</p><p>"Come..." Mrs. Gold told her husband as she took his hand. "Rose and Baelfire are waiting for us."</p><p>"Thank you, Toon Force..." Mr. Gold said softly as they soon walked off together and they disappeared into a bright light together.</p><hr/><p>"Well, we'd best get this back to Drell," Lionel replied, gesturing to the box containing Drell's heart. "Speaking of wrapping things up, have you made your choice, Sabrina?"</p><p>"Yes, I have made up my mind," Sabrina nodded. "I'll tell you when we get back."</p><p>The rest of the Toon Force nodded back, agreeing with Sabrina, and they soon went off together with the box at hand.</p><hr/><p>At the Spellman house, in the master bed, Drell was lying down on it with his eyes closed, but he still had his glasses. Zelda held Salem in her arms on one side of the bed while Hilda sat in a chair on the other side with tears in her eyes. Eventually, the door opened and the Spellman sisters looked over as the door opening came with the young group and Cherry holding onto the box and opened it up and took out Drell's beating and glowing heart that was still going strong. Hilda sniffled, wiping her eyes before smiling sadly and emotionally. Cherry soon approached Drell and shoved his heart right back into his chest, making a loud, crunching, and squishing sound before his whole body glowed and he was now healthily restored. </p><p>Drell shot up in bed, taking a huge gasp of air. "Whoa! I just felt like I was teetering on the edge of life and death..." he wheezed.</p><p>Cherry let out a small whimpering hiccup as she stood in front of him.</p><p>"Cherry, you... You saved me?" Drell asked her.</p><p>"Well... We all did in a way..." Cherry replied, referring to herself and her friends.</p><p>"Oh, thank Mim!" Hilda beamed and hugged Drell right away, so glad that he was okay as she began to cry emotionally.</p><p>Drell smiled and hugged Hilda right back.</p><p>"Let's give them some alone time," Zelda said to the kids. "I'll make you all some dinner."</p><p>The group nodded as they followed her out.</p><p>"Oh, Sabrina?" Drell called. "Have you made your decision?"</p><p>"Yes, Drell," Sabrina nodded. "I'd like to see that other universe you told me about."</p><p>"Well, alrighty then." Drell said as he got up from the bed and went over to one of the doors.</p><hr/><p>Back in the Fairy Tale Realm, everybody was on the beach after the defeat of Magda.</p><p>"I wonder what's gonna happen to Rumplestiltskin now?" Jill commented to her brother.</p><p>"I don't know and I don't care right now," Jack replied. "What matters now is that we're all safe."</p><p>The twins smiled at each other and soon hugged each other.</p><p>The Hatter was shown to be adjusting a new hat for the special occasion that was going on at the beach right now. "That little mermaid better not splash me in front of Alice..." he muttered to himself.</p><p>"You and Alice are pretty close, huh?" Jill commented.</p><p>"Uh, yeah," Hatter smiled bashfully. "Ever since she first came to Wonderland to look for her lost cat, then The White Rabbit found her since she got lost... Alice and I just... Bonded pretty well."</p><p>Jack and Jill had small smirks at each other.</p><p>"Hahaha," Hatter rolled his eyes playfully. "Come on, you guys. Your parents have a wedding to attend to."</p><p>Jack and Jill beamed as they followed him as it was soon sunset and the wedding ceremony had come and gone.</p><hr/><p>"You may now kiss the bride." The Hatter told Charles.</p><p>Charles smiled and soon kissed Snow once they were officially married, becoming The King and Queen of the Enchanted Forest, surrounded by the fellow Grimm Avengers along with Hansel and Gretel... And the seven dwarves who all clapped as Grumpy seemed to get emotional over the scene, but didn't want anyone to see him cry. Snow weakly tossed her bouquet as it hit Rosa and fell on the sand suddenly.</p><p>"Yeah, that's never gonna happen." Red smirked playfully.</p><p>"I still don't see it." Rosa shook her head before looking down.</p><p>Dopey smiled bashfully as he picked up the bouquet and held it out to her. Without a doubt, it was definitely a blessed event for everyone in the kingdom.</p><p>"Lovely ceremony, but after battling an army of mermen, chasing you through time, and living through my own future death, I've had just about enough of the ocean." Alice smiled at the new King and Queen.</p><p>"Imagine how I feel," Charles groaned. "I'll never eat seafood again."</p><p>Jack and Jill laughed a little at that.</p><p>"So what now?" Snow asked Alice. "Are you going back to Wonderland?"</p><p>"Well, I don't suppose you have to do anything I say, do you?" Alice smirked playfully. "What with ruling all of this land?"</p><p>"I know that's not how it works here," Snow said before she put an arm around Jack as Charles did the same to Jill. "You don't have to worry about me trying to take over the world."</p><p>"Of course not, it's already yours if I understand correctly." Alice replied, amused.</p><p>"Trust me; we don't see it that way." Snow reassured.</p><p>"Splendid!" Alice grinned.</p><p>"I think our adventure days are over." Charles remarked.</p><p>"Oh, tsk! Let's not be so certain of that, Charles," Alice shook her head. "After all, the sea isn't the only place where hidden dangers lurk," she then assured. "Believe you me, there's a whole universe of wonder waiting to seep up through the cracks of reality, and no doubt we've got quite a mess to clean up after all that pesky time travel business."</p><p>"We?" Jack and Jill asked.</p><p>"Oh, yes!" Alice chuckled. "Let's not forget who caused this mess in the first place, hmm? It would only be polite to help clean it up," she then explained. "So... If you're going to stick around, we'll need to make our little alliance a tad more official. So enjoy the honeymoon and family reunion," she then added, mostly with a look towards the twins. "You certainly earned it, but when you'll return, I'll expect you to report promptly to Looking Glass as we join forces with The League of Justice with that Toon Force. All of you."</p><p>The Fairy Tale group took a look at each other before nodding.</p><p>"If you call, we'll be there." Snow reassured.</p><p>"Splendid," Alice nodded. "I have a number of matters that I'm sure will require the attention of The Grimm Avengers."</p><p>The group smiled all around, except for maybe Grumpy, as this was the perfect ending for all of them, but also a great new beginning.</p><hr/><p>Back at home, everyone stood in the Spellman house as Sabrina was upstairs in her room with Salem, getting ready to leave.</p><p>"You didn't have to come," Drell said to the group. "This is probably gonna be sad."</p><p>"Of course we came," Atticus told him. "Sabrina's our friend and we're really gonna miss her."</p><p>"And the least we can do is see her off with a final goodbye." Lionel added.</p><p>"I'm gonna miss you so much." Thor sniffled to his cousin.</p><p>"Aww... Tiny..." Drell said softly as he patted his nephew on the head.</p><p>"I think that's everything," Sabrina said as she came to Drell with a backpack and a suitcase with Salem by her feet. "So, uh, my friends will be in this other universe too, right?"</p><p>"They'll be there, but... They'll be a bit older..." Drell tried to explain.</p><p>"Just know, no matter what," Lionel smiled. "...We'll always be friends."</p><p>Sabrina turned back to her friends and gave them all a hug. As much as she didn't want it to end, she knew that it was time for her to get going.</p><p>"You'll also need a new name," Drell said o Sabrina. "I hope you understand."</p><p>"I guess I do," Sabrina sighed softly. "Goodbye, everyone. This place was not meant for me, but I am glad for one thing."</p><p>"Yeah?" Atticus asked.</p><p>"That I got to have friends like you to keep me company," Sabrina smiled sadly. "Don't forget about me."</p><p>"We won't." The group promised the teenage witch.</p><p>Sabrina nodded as she wiped her eyes.</p><p>"Come on, kiddo," Salem yawned and stretched as he smiled up at her. "We got a long walk ahead of us."</p><p>"You're right, Salem." Sabrina nodded before they soon followed Drell out the door and soon entered The Other Realm which would also lead up to the new universe.</p><p>The Toon Force group looked at each other and bowed their heads and even The Justice League was told about Sabrina's departure. John and Zatanna were a bit emotional since Sabrina was a great apprentice for them, but they understood what had to be done.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So, Cherry, how are we feeling this week?" Leslie asked as it was time for Cherry's weekly appointment again.</p><p>"It's pretty crazy, Leslie," Cherry replied. "I had to say goodbye to a longtime friend, but I know she'll be happier where she is now. It seems that everybody is going to live happily ever after though, even if we'll have an empty seat at our cafeteria table," she said softly. "It's for the best, plus we'll have the good times to think about."</p><p>"Glad to know you're doing better than before," Leslie encouraged Cherry. "But try to remember that even though old friends may leave, there'll always be new friends."</p><p>"Yes, I suppose that's true," Cherry replied. "It's been a big transition, but hopefully we all adjust well enough later. I just can't help but wonder what she's up to these days."</p><p>"Personally, I think she's doing just fine," Leslie smiled. "...And so are you."</p><p>"Well, thanks, Leslie," Cherry replied. "I feel pretty good for the most part."</p><p>"Would you still like these sessions?" Leslie asked.</p><p>"...Yeah, probably for a while longer," Cherry nodded. "It's pretty good to talk... Plus let out some hot air I feel during school whenever people like Prudence or Alexandra think they're hot shit. Oh! Excuse me." she then flinched bashfully.</p><p>"That's quite alright," Leslie reassured. "It's good to let those feelings out."</p><p>"Tell me about," Cherry nodded as she sat comfortably. "I just wonder what's gonna happen next?"</p><p>"I guess you don't know until it happens..." Leslie replied.</p><hr/><p>A moving van was shown in front of a house with a blonde-haired woman who smiled at her dark-haired husband as their daughter stepped out, having light brown hair with glasses as she stared at the house, but that would be another story for later. Cherry soon left Leslie's office after they finished their weekly session and she went to go and meet her friends for some milkshakes.</p><p>"Heya!" Lionel waved. "We were about to leave without'cha!... Ah, you know we'd never do that."</p><p>"So, ya thirsty?" Thor added.</p><p>"Yeah," Cherry replied. "I think I'm gonna go strawberry this time."</p><p>"Strawberry it is," Mo nodded. "Though you guys ever think we should have some fruit smoothies instead?"</p><p>The group shared deadpan gazes before they soon ended up laughing together since milkshakes were always a cure after a long school week, especially when it was so bad with tests or bullies or anything else. They soon walked off together.</p><p>"Look at that, Cathy," The dark-haired man smiled at his daughter. "Some kids around your age."</p><p>"Maybe you'll make some new friends." The blonde woman added.</p><p>"...Friends." The girl said softly as she watched them leave and head over to the milkshake shop.</p><hr/><p>"Thank goodness, some other people!" The owner named Pops beamed at them. "Just in time too, I thought that Jughead kid was about to clean out my stock like he usually does."</p><p>"Hey, Pops, just the usual, only... One less than usual..." Atticus said as he brought out his wallet as it was his turn to pay.</p><p>Pops nodded and went off to get them ready.</p><p>"Guys, I think we should remember to count our blessings," Atticus said to the others. "I felt lucky to had known the Butlers for a good long time... And then Clark and Diana named me their son... Plus I got a chance to be in a real family with the Whitneys. I really liked being a big brother to Kevin and little Melanie."</p><p>"I'm glad I get to have friends like you guys," Thor smiled. "I never really had any friends back home until I met you guys."</p><p>"Yeah, we're a pretty good team." Cherry shrugged, but she did not in agreement.</p><p>"I've never had any friends until I met you all," Mo agreed. "It was just me and my brother and sister until Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Chuck took us in. I love that I got to have spent time with a crew like you and I wouldn't trade any of you for the world."</p><p>"I never had anybody until I met you guys," Lionel told them. "...So I reckon I feel pretty darn lucky to have found you all."</p><p>"We lost one member of our group, so this round's on her." Cherry said.</p><p>Pops soon gave the group their milkshakes after a few minutes.</p><p>"Here's to Sabrina and Salem." Cherry said as she lifted her milkshake glass.</p><p>"To Sabrina and Salem." The rest of the group echoed before they clinked their glasses together and took a group swallow.</p><p>"First swallow is always the hardest." Atticus sighed.</p><p>"Especially when you neglect the cherry on top," Lionel wheezed before he coughed the fruit into a napkin, which he threw away. "You see how red the stems are? I don't even think they're real..."</p><p>"I don't think so either..." Thor shook his head. "The best part of the milkshake is sharing with you guys though."</p><p>"Yeah," Mo smiled. "They always taste sweeter with company."</p><p>"I guess that's why Gold saw so much value in our hearts," Cherry said. "They were sweet and pure and harmonic enough based on our friendship, even if we show it differently with each other, but they still worked strongly together and were just bitter and dark when torn apart. I hope we can still have great adventures together as friends."</p><p>"Same here!" Lionel agreed.</p><p>"YEAH!" Mo, Thor, and Atticus chimed in.</p><p>Cherry cracked a very small, visible smile as things wrapped up nicely for them. The brown-haired girl from before was standing outside the diner, watching them and she soon began to wonder if she would befriend this group as they seemed interesting enough. Until next time with the Toon Force though, they lived happily ever after in this story like the Grimm Avengers.</p><p>The End</p>
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